Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock Holdings Lowered by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,711 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 803 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,751,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LUV. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

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.