Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $830,000 Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,673 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,934 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after acquiring 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock worth $73,636,000 after acquiring an additional 133,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $30.00 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The firm has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.30 and a 200-day moving average of $30.74.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.