Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $575,000 Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,690 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,547 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.54.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.23. 13,132,906 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,055,514. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.80 and its 200-day moving average is $29.19. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 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 analyst estimates 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 was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.