Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock Position Trimmed by Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC

Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,116 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,004 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.7 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.07. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.17, a P/E/G ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 553.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

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.