Gradient Investments LLC Has $18.45 Million Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 578,088 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,665 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC owned about 0.11% of Southwest Airlines worth $18,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 81.4% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 67.8% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $42.17 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.92 and a 200-day moving average of $33.08. The company has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $43.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

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.