Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 71.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,015 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 14,785 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,541,000. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,973,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $4,728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $34.67 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $20.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

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.