7,000 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,000 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted 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 note on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $31.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.89 and a 200 day moving average of $31.01.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.