Global Retirement Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Global Retirement Partners LLC cut its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,275 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,187 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after purchasing an additional 133,366 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.91. The company has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.