Creative Planning Sells 2,823 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Creative Planning decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,327 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.11. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 236.40, a PEG ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

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.