Kercheville Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Kercheville Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,620 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines accounts for approximately 1.0% of Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 65,473 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 2,354 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,234 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.88.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.72, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. On average, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 84.71%.

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.