Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Lowers Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,820 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,247,000 after purchasing an additional 56,757 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after purchasing an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.01. 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 market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

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.