Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,298 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,545,000 after buying an additional 88,869 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,247,000 after buying an additional 56,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.8 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.29. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. 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 (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.02.

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.