Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 949,532 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 43.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,240,723 shares of the airline's stock after selling 949,532 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.22% of Southwest Airlines worth $41,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after buying an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LUV. Citigroup cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.65. The stock had a trading volume of 8,505,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,143,687. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $29.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.20. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 84.71%.

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.