Oakworth Capital Inc. Cuts Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,373 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 583 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock worth $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 103,834 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,635,000 after purchasing an additional 124,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock worth $83,299,000 after purchasing an additional 23,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 24.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock worth $22,506,000 after purchasing an additional 163,544 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 14,826 shares of the airline’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.3 %

LUV opened at $28.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

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.