Sunbelt Securities Inc. Decreases Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,705 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $49,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 42.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased 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 $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $31.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.93. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.21.

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.