TCW Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 254,750 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,592 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $8,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,728,000. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth approximately $4,238,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.80 on Monday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.87. The firm has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.