Primecap Management Co. CA Cuts Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,908,845 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 344,483 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines accounts for approximately 1.0% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.08% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,427,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 177.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 117,042 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,349,000 after acquiring an additional 74,891 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,781 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,730 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.5 %

LUV stock opened at $28.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.39 and its 200 day moving average is $28.10. The stock has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion during 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%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.