OLD National Bancorp IN Acquires New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,238 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline's stock worth $100,080,000 after buying an additional 46,110 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline's stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,636,000 after purchasing an additional 133,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,703,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,635,637. The company has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14. 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 simple moving average of $32.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.50. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.08.

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.