Oldfield Partners LLP Trims Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Oldfield Partners LLP reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,490,700 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 404,400 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines makes up about 9.3% of Oldfield Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Oldfield Partners LLP owned approximately 0.25% of Southwest Airlines worth $44,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.7 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.07.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 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 business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

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.