Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 72.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,950 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $164,656,000 after purchasing an additional 400,886 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE LUV opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Citigroup cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.59.

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.