Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 23.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,572 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 10,039 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $932,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock traded up $0.63 on Tuesday, reaching $24.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,370,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,562,155. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. HSBC began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.39.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.