New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 42,888 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 531,825 shares of the airline's stock after selling 42,888 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Southwest Airlines worth $15,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,742 shares of the airline's stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 18,740 shares of the airline's stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2,207.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,797 shares of the airline's stock valued at $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 143,304 shares during the period. Compass Ion Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI restated an "inline" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $1.10 on Wednesday, reaching $27.96. 10,942,341 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,413,724. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $39.53. The firm's 50-day moving average is $31.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.38) EPS. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

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.