Natixis Advisors LLC Has $1.94 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,308 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 7,153 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -463.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.67 and a 200-day moving average of $28.69.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines 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.