Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,946 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Ion Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 12,021 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $179,355,000 after buying an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of LUV opened at $27.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 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.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

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.