Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Has $1.83 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 63,416 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 12,684 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Motco grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.76.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $27.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.53. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

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.