Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 5,027 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,721 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,027 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $169,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 429,670 shares of the airline’s stock worth $11,734,000 after purchasing an additional 39,890 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $29,789,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,678 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 14,564 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7 %

LUV opened at $28.68 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $17.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.52, a P/E/G ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.38.

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.