Navigation Wealth Management Inc. Sells 31,469 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Navigation Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 81.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,302 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 31,469 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines comprises approximately 86.2% of Navigation Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Navigation Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of LUV traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.58. The stock had a trading volume of 8,222,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,710,601. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.66 and a 200 day moving average of $29.37.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on LUV. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

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.