Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 6,155 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 332,961 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 6,155 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $11,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $95,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,564 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $57,724,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $34.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.60 and its 200-day moving average is $31.08. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

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.