Brown Financial Advisors Purchases New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 26,714 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,544,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444,279 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 worth $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $21,573,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Melius reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.75.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.88 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.75 and its 200 day moving average is $27.88. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.43, a P/E/G ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

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.