Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,870 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the fourth 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. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. HSBC assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.36.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $27.11 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.77 and a 200-day moving average of $29.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

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.