World Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

World Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,894 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $32.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -468.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.