Martin Worley Group Acquires New Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Martin Worley Group purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,818 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $31.91 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a PE ratio of 44.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.62.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.