Partnership Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Partnership Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,808 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 533 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,544,387,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444,279 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,789,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,404,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,193,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Melius reissued a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.37. The company had a trading volume of 9,061,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,101,113. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.03 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 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

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.