Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $9.77 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 334,652 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,844 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.06% of Southwest Airlines worth $9,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,544,387,000 after buying an additional 9,444,279 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock worth $311,634,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock worth $219,465,000 after purchasing an additional 460,480 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $179,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,188,348 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $92,079,000 after purchasing an additional 111,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.53. 2,642,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,107,357. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) 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 firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

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.