Private Trust Co. NA Lowers Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,849 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 773 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a 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. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -462.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.94 and a 200-day moving average of $28.80.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

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.