20,502 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 20,502 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 24,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1,052.2% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 6,153 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 5,619 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,416 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.09. 1,135,522 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,287,839. The stock has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a PE ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.96 and a 200-day moving average of $28.46. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.38) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

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.