Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $40.54 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,205,847 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $40,541,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of Southwest Airlines as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $95,499,000 after buying an additional 2,641,564 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $85,262,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $57,724,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of LUV traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,518,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,915,393. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week 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 company's 50-day moving average is $29.89 and its 200-day moving average is $31.28.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.88.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.