Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,663,936 shares of the airline's stock after selling 354,283 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 4.28% of Southwest Airlines worth $862,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $608,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.49. The company had a trading volume of 10,534,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,898,015. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.11. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.54.

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.