Provident Trust Co. Buys 460,480 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Provident Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 460,480 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines makes up approximately 4.5% of Provident Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Provident Trust Co. owned 1.27% of Southwest Airlines worth $219,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 82.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 914 shares of the airline’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,071 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,106,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,102,757. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.27) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LUV. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday. UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.18.

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.