Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Grows Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,993 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Provident Trust Co. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock worth $219,465,000 after acquiring an additional 460,480 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,866,933 shares of the airline’s stock worth $131,748,000 after purchasing an additional 32,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $83,299,000 after buying an additional 23,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,606,555 shares of the airline’s stock worth $75,277,000 after buying an additional 50,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LUV opened at $26.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.59.

About Southwest Airlines

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.