Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stake Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,173 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth $2,963,000. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $614,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.7 %

LUV opened at $29.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.11 and a 200-day moving average of $30.87. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.