Redwood Investment Management LLC Sells 89,169 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Redwood Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,915 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 89,169 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $31.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.33 and its 200 day moving average is $31.05. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

About Southwest Airlines

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.