Empower Advisory Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,870 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 618 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LUV. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 370.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.70 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

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.