Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $4.23 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 14.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 147,863 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 18,281 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $28.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.62, a P/E/G ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.14 and its 200-day moving average is $28.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

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.