Econ Financial Services Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Econ Financial Services Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,636 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 8,957 shares during the quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after purchasing an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.08.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $30.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.73, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.91 and a 200-day moving average of $30.50.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.