Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Lowers Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 43.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,240,723 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 949,532 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $41,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,951,000 after purchasing an additional 317,166 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 9,668 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $609,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 11,173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $33.50 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $29.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.20. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 11,670 shares of company stock valued at $314,794. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.88.

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.