Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Sells 20,018 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,855 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 20,018 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines comprises approximately 2.8% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 91,040 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,464,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 38,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 77,883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,108,000 after buying an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,850 shares of the airline’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $480,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LUV. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.94. The company had a trading volume of 13,825,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,929,340. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.58. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.