Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Capital International Inc. CA

Capital International Inc. CA increased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,841 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 29,516 shares during the quarter. Capital International Inc. CA's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,872 shares of the airline's stock valued at $23,193,000 after purchasing an additional 45,097 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 92.2% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 16,599 shares of the airline's stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 7,963 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 51,014 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 13,039 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $2,793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.54.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $26.49. 10,479,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,030,472. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.13. The firm has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Insider Activity

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 bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.