ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 68.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,486 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 15,884 shares during the period. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,556,536 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $69,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,361 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $179,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,468 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,193,000. Provident Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock worth $219,465,000 after purchasing an additional 460,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 34.9% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,619,499 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,840,000 after purchasing an additional 418,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE LUV traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $26.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,950,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,011,715. The firm has a market cap of $15.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.51, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $39.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.59.

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.