Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC Invests $215,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Ackerman Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,382 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after buying an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock worth $73,636,000 after acquiring an additional 133,366 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Raymond James raised 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. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. 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 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.01 and a 200 day moving average of $30.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.