Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Sells 648 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 42.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 889 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 49.9% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,887 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 3,958 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,390 shares of the airline’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 88.2% during the 1st quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,352 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 11,882 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of LUV opened at $29.02 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 223.25, a PEG ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.39. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued 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 2.48%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 553.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.33.

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.