Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC cut its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,615 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,054 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motco raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 247.5% in the first quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 702 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $33,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $28.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.38) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

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.