Blue Trust Inc. Has $241,000 Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,246 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 977 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $458,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $417,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 18.9% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,374 shares of the airline’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. Barclays increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.80 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $26.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.75. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.