Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Holdings Cut by Court Place Advisors LLC

Court Place Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,103 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,988 shares during the period. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 247.5% in the first quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 702 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $33,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,943,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,387,864. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.38) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.52 earnings per share 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 given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

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.