Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 37,806 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 799,353 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 37,806 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.13% of Southwest Airlines worth $23,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.2% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 13,336 shares of the airline’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $403,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 16.6% in the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 6,335 shares of the airline’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 40,189 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,841,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 96.00%.

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.