Capital International Sarl Boosts Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Capital International Sarl increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,014 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 13,039 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.88.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $26.14. 8,625,342 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,722,734. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.