Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,488 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,192 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $30.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 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 cap of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.