Bokf Na Boosts Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Bokf Na raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,796 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 852 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.54.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $26.86. 2,540,870 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,311,197. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The stock has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.80 and a 200-day moving average of $29.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

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.