Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 7,153 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,308 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 7,153 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,107,507 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $31,686,000 after buying an additional 14,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.4 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.67 and its 200-day moving average is $28.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of -463.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.