Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 675 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,370 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Redburn Partners cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $68.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.27.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.03 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $29.41 and a 52 week high of $50.10. The company has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly 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). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 2.26%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 7th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

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.