Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,500 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 247.5% in the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 702 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $29.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.50. The company has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.38) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.