Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $357,000 Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,349 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 8,599 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Motco lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.53. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

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.