HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 9,668 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,531 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 9,668 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,545,000 after buying an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,247,000 after buying an additional 56,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $34.67. 9,623,464 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,133,266. The company has a market capitalization of $20.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average of $31.46. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.52.

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.