Shelton Capital Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Shelton Capital Management decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,446 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 75,325 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,728,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $20.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, October 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $24.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.27. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $40.38.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The airline reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The firm had revenue of $6.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.56 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 21st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 20th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provide scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated a total fleet of 770 Boeing 737 aircrafts; 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.