Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 3,284 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 365,866 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.06% of Southwest Airlines worth $10,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,468 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,866,933 shares of the airline’s stock worth $131,748,000 after purchasing an additional 32,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,606,555 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $75,277,000 after purchasing an additional 50,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,619,499 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,840,000 after buying an additional 418,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.77 and a 200-day moving average of $28.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.38) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 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.