Brown Financial Advisors Buys Shares of 26,714 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 26,714 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $29.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $29.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 47.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.88. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 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.

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