Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC trimmed its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,617 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 379 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $828,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $250,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $235,000. Terril Brothers Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $5,053,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its holdings 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. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $31.07 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.05. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 43.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.