Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Kiltearn Partners LLP

Kiltearn Partners LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,494,283 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 328,600 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines accounts for approximately 5.2% of Kiltearn Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Kiltearn Partners LLP owned 0.25% of Southwest Airlines worth $42,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 81,845 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,342,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 82,679 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 82.1% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 61,430 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 27,700 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 40.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,908 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 7,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $29.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.03, a PEG ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.91. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.38.

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.