Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 689,872 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 45,097 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.12% of Southwest Airlines worth $23,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased 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 valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upgraded 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE LUV traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $26.65. 14,989,132 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,918,384. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.09. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

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.