Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Holdings Trimmed by Harbor Investment Advisory LLC

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,317 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 979 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% in 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 last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE LUV opened at $27.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.42. The company has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LUV. 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 downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

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.