Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Guggenheim Capital LLC decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 76.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,929 shares of the airline's stock after selling 73,185 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $608,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,539,000 after buying an additional 9,668 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Monday, reaching $26.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,037,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,896,892. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.11. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.69%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

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.