Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 831 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,575 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 831 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.3% during the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the airline’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 11,316 shares of the airline’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TD Cowen raised 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 7.0 %

NYSE LUV opened at $27.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.53. 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 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.