Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 88,869 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 88,869 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $116,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $2,963,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $614,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $29.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

About Southwest Airlines

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.