Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Holdings Cut by Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC

Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,118,609 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,469 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines makes up about 2.8% of Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Southwest Airlines worth $36,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on LUV. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE LUV opened at $32.36 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.87 and a 200 day moving average of $28.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines 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.