Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 65,786 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 8,602 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.44 and a 200-day moving average of $31.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. 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 company has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.72.

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.