Lbp Am Sa Reduces Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

LBP AM SA lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,156 shares of the airline's stock after selling 9,742 shares during the quarter. LBP AM SA's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $8,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $409,000. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.3% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,857 shares of the airline's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.7% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,925 shares of the airline's stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 409,653 shares of the airline's stock worth $13,756,000 after buying an additional 61,827 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.8% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,844 shares of the airline's stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 4,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.81.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.36. 23,736,610 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,313,229. 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 capitalization of $21.29 billion, a PE ratio of 43.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 1.21. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $32.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $37.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 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. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.