Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,100 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 10,797 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,276 shares of the airline’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 18.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,151 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 42.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 246,557 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $8,279,000 after buying an additional 73,749 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,099 shares of the airline’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 739,081 shares of the airline’s stock worth $24,818,000 after buying an additional 6,543 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $34.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.85, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.33 and a 200-day moving average of $32.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 110.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.