2023 was a year of two halves for Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) stock.
Up until the middle of June, the airline operator's shares were smashing the market with a double-digit gain.
However, the second half of the year was incredibly turbulent after the company suffered from significant media criticism following a number of controversies.
This ultimately led to Qantas stock ending the period with a double-digit decline for the year.
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Should you buy, sell, or hold Qantas stock in 2024?
As far as the broker community is concerned, the Flying Kangaroo is a buy for the year ahead.
A host of brokers have the equivalent of buy ratings on Qantas stock with price targets implying huge returns over the next 12 months.
For example, Macquarie currently has an outperform rating and a $7 price target, which offers a 30% upside for investors.
Elsewhere, Morgans has an add rating and a $7.30 price target on its shares, which suggests a potential upside of 36%.
And over at Goldman Sachs, its analysts are even more bullish with their conviction buy rating and $8.25 price target. If Goldman is on the money with its recommendation, it will mean a sizeable 54% return in 2024.
The broker also sees scope for Qantas stock to offer dividend yields of approximately 5.5% in both FY 2025 and FY 2026.
Holds
No brokers currently have sell ratings on the company's shares, but there are a couple of holds.
One of those is from Citi. However, with a price target of $6, this still suggests a potential upside of approximately 12%. Which is not bad for a hold rating!
The other broker with a hold rating is Ord Minnett, which has a slightly higher price target of $6.10.
All in all, 2024 could be a decent year for shareholders if these recommendations prove accurate.
