Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,449 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.4% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $27.53 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53. The firm has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend 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.