Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 28.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 891,106 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 361,892 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $28,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,151 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 4,353 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 122,303 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,107,000 after buying an additional 15,905 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 246,557 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $8,279,000 after acquiring an additional 73,749 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 739,081 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $24,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $35.07 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.95, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $37.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.80.

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.