Capital World Investors Acquires 58,623 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,531,489 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,623 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 0.10% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,934,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $608,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $24.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.89 and a 200 day moving average of $31.28. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Raymond James boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.88.

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.