Greenleaf Trust Buys 706 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,681 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 706 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,339,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 122,054 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after buying an additional 8,013 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the third quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 157,445 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 55.8% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,955 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.08.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.50. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.