New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 416,059 shares of the airline's stock after selling 47,983 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Southwest Airlines worth $13,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 90.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE LUV traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $34.00. The stock had a trading volume of 3,733,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,285,755. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $31.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

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.