Xponance Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Xponance Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 75,920 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,963 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.3% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the airline’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,852 shares of the airline’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $29.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.77 and a 200 day moving average of $28.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.38) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

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.