Amundi Decreases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Amundi decreased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 98.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 185,169 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 9,550,774 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LUV. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $31.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.12 and its 200-day moving average is $31.22. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.