Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,629 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 32,265 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,742 shares of the airline’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 18,740 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2,207.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,797 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,326,000 after buying an additional 143,304 shares during the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $28.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The firm has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

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.