NEOS Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,225 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 8,712 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.54.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $33.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend 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.