Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 45,110 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 19.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,314 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 45,110 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,223,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 493,954 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $14,419,000 after purchasing an additional 64,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Melius reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.75.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $29.64 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.05, a P/E/G ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid 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 2.43%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

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.