Independent Advisor Alliance Decreases Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,431 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 344 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.5% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,756 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the period. 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. Wahed Invest LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 244.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 81,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 98.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 30,360 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 15,041 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $32.36 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -462.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.87 and a 200 day moving average of $28.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.