Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by U S Global Investors Inc.

U S Global Investors Inc. reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,400,904 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 261,986 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines makes up approximately 9.7% of U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. U S Global Investors Inc. owned about 0.57% of Southwest Airlines worth $100,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,320 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 14,330 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,759 shares of the airline’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,453 shares of the airline’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,373 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of LUV stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.12. 477,182 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,359,841. The company has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 234.17, a PEG ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.07. 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 (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.