Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,852 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.
Southwest Airlines Price Performance
NYSE:LUV opened at $32.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.82. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -462.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.
Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines
In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.
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.
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