Hershey Financial Advisers LLC Makes New $1.92 Million Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of 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 (SEC). The fund bought 57,092 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $1,919,000. Southwest Airlines comprises 1.7% of Hershey Financial Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $40,541,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $8,973,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LUV. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James lifted 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. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $34.67. The company had a trading volume of 9,623,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,133,266. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.