New England Research & Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

New England Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 64.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,707 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,632 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after buying an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.88.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.65 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.20. The company has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

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.