Versant Capital Management Inc Has $40,000 Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $40,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,207.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,797 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,326,000 after buying an additional 143,304 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 18,740 shares of the airline’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,742 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,451,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.39.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,049,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,505,804. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.58 and its 200-day moving average is $29.02. The stock has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.