Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,198 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock worth $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 103,834 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock worth $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock worth $22,506,000 after acquiring an additional 163,544 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 14,826 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $28.78 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.38) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LUV. 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 report on Tuesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.