1,565 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Bought by Millstone Evans Group LLC

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,565 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This represents 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 hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

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.