KBC Group NV Has $236,000 Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 97.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,288 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 313,154 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,235 shares of the airline’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.9% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,848 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 46,276 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the first quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 22,795 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.4% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 86,254 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 7,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.73.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.00 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.39. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.24.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.