Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $1.15 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,267 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 533 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $40,541,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,728,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.74 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. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.08, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.22.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 2.27%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.72.

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.