Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 5.50% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,108,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $85,262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

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Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.91. 10,155,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,548,721. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.32, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.62. 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 posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.43.

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.