Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 96.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,359 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,051 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,751,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth 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 period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LUV. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.37. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.