NEOS Investment Management LLC Purchases 8,712 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,225 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 8,712 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.32.

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Southwest Airlines Stock Down 5.9 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $2.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.59. The stock had a trading volume of 17,819,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,540,145. The company has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.87, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% 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.