Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,575 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 831 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $912,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,672 shares of the airline’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 11,316 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 95,911 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 25,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,914 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $27.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.82.

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.