Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 594,241 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 45.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 702,183 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 594,241 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $20,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Melius restated a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $29.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month 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 $27.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.99.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

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.