Blueshift Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 169.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,618 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,373 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,652,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,842,000 after buying an additional 18,270 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.3% during the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,218 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after acquiring an additional 9,739 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $530,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline’s stock worth $17,791,000 after acquiring an additional 23,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE LUV opened at $34.76 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 53.47, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.55 and its 200 day moving average is $32.57.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 110.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.80.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.