Everence Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,690 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 18,630 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,918 shares of the airline’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $33.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.79. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -480.14, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.96.

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.