Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock Holdings Lessened by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,335 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 5,896 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.3% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the airline’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the airline’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.3% in the third quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 11,391 shares of the airline’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.9 %

LUV opened at $29.46 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.