Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 62.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,473 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 12,233 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LUV. HSBC initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $26.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.30 and its 200 day moving average is $28.75. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

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.