Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Trims Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,849 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE LUV opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.91. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines 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.