Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,143 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $27.54 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.10 and its 200-day moving average is $28.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.38) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.