Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 1,700 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,497 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE LUV opened at $30.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.13. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.79, a PEG ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.14.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.