Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Acquired by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 3,949.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,535 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $28.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 27.17 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

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.