WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,095 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 13,336 shares of the airline’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $403,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 6,335 shares of the airline’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 40,189 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. 74.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $41.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Redburn Partners cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Southwest Airlines from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.27.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $29.41 and a 12-month high of $50.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.43.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.71% and a net margin of 2.26%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 7th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 90.00%.

About Southwest Airlines

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Southwest Airlines Co engages in the operation and management of a passenger airline. The firm also offers ancillary services such as early bird check-in, upgraded boarding, and transportation of pets and unaccompanied minors. It operates in the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.