King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $1.87 Million Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,593 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 3,203 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,963,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $614,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.4 %

LUV stock opened at $30.10 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.80, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. UBS Group raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.72.

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.