Dark Forest Capital Management LP Decreases Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 44.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,868 shares of the airline's stock after selling 10,184 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock valued at $330,000 after buying 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 boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $26.49 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. 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. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.54.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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