Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 5.02% of Southwest Airlines worth $932,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.02. 5,829,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,076,302. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -471.71, a PEG ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.37.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.