Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 50.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 81,809 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 83,170 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.0% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during 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. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.46. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.38) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

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.