Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 930 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,408 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 930 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 120.9% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.7 %

LUV opened at $29.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.