Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,430 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 5,064 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 374.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 858 shares of the airline’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.39.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.56. 3,409,458 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,521,436. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.