Stevens Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 71.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,015 shares of the airline's stock after selling 14,785 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock valued at $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $116,545,000 after buying an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 56,757 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 133,366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.58. 10,680,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,502,483. The company has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $31.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.54.

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.