CreativeOne Wealth LLC Purchases 11,581 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,971 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 11,581 shares during the quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline's stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the period. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $608,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.71. 11,518,405 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,927,459. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.30. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Six equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.