Edgestream Partners L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 120.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,339 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 41,224 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LUV. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Melius reissued a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, June 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $28.90 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 45.87, a P/E/G ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during 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%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

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.