C. David Cush Buys 5,000 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.74 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 forecast 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, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.72.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline’s stock worth $20,421,000 after purchasing an additional 21,805 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 5,450 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $33,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.6% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 11,463 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 348,389 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,323,000 after acquiring an additional 10,987 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.