California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 15,316 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 785,399 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 15,316 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Southwest Airlines worth $29,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,148 shares of the airline’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,063 shares of the airline’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,437 shares of the airline’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,726 shares of the airline’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.40 to $36.10 in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.58.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $48.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $28.98 and a one year high of $55.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.45%.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.