Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 5,075 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,668 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 5,075 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. WT Wealth Management boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 52,898 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 8,364 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 24,577 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 3,577 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 429,670 shares of the airline’s stock worth $11,734,000 after acquiring an additional 39,890 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 4,729 shares of the airline’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $279,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $27.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. 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 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, April 26th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.80 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.10.

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.