Boothbay Fund Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 36,733 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $1,235,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $28.62. 15,583,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,981,784. The company has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.26 and its 200-day moving average is $31.04. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 84.71%.

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.