WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys 155,741 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 325.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 203,569 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 155,741 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 662,243 shares of the airline’s stock worth $22,258,000 after acquiring an additional 65,403 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4,277.8% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 39,400 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 38,500 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $167,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,262,000. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $1,919,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target 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. Finally, Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.75, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12.

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, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.