Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Position Trimmed by UMB Bank n.a.

UMB Bank n.a. lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,918 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 22,474 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 13,336 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,335 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $403,000. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 6,335 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 40,189 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.71% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $29.41 and a one year high of $50.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.26% and a return on equity of 6.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 8th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Melius cut Southwest Airlines from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $41.00 target price for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.27.

Southwest Airlines Profile

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Southwest Airlines Co engages in the operation and management of a passenger airline. The firm also offers ancillary services such as early bird check-in, upgraded boarding, and transportation of pets and unaccompanied minors. It operates in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.