New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,159 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a PE ratio of 234.17, a P/E/G ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $21.91 and a 52-week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 553.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

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.