Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) is Kiltearn Partners LLP’s 5th Largest Position

Kiltearn Partners LLP trimmed its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,250,983 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 243,300 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines comprises 5.0% of Kiltearn Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Kiltearn Partners LLP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $37,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.96 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.72. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines 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.