California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,081,156 shares of the airline's stock after selling 65,793 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Southwest Airlines worth $31,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Motco raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.8 %
LUV traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $27.03. The company had a trading volume of 16,106,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,102,757. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $30.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.56. The company has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.90, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.18.
Get Our Latest Report on Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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