Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 344 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,431 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 344 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,573,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -462.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.77. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines 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.