Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $100.08 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 46,110 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $100,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $31.96 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.72. 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 cap of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -456.50, a P/E/G ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

About Southwest Airlines

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.