Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,410 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 732 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,207.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,797 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,326,000 after buying an additional 143,304 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $439,000. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $692,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the airline’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $25.53. 5,783,681 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,592,588. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.90. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. Melius restated a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.47.

Southwest Airlines 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.