Sfmg LLC Reduces Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sfmg LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,014 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 4,659 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 74,290 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 19,173 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 152,900 shares of the airline’s stock worth $5,141,000 after acquiring an additional 30,754 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,026 shares of the airline’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,608 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Five 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $34.84 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.16 and a 200-day moving average of $31.37. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.