Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 226,855 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 20,018 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines comprises 2.8% of Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the airline’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.94. The stock had a trading volume of 13,825,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,929,340. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.58. The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.29%.

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.