Alps Advisors Inc. Buys 27,658 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 761,327 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 27,658 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned 0.13% of Southwest Airlines worth $25,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $37.13. 10,373,601 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,256,650. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $32.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $37.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.81.

About Southwest Airlines

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.