Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Reduces Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,258 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price objective (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of -454.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.28. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $22.58 and a 52-week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.