Mattson Financial Services LLC Purchases 10,123 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mattson Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,458 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 10,123 shares during the quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $95,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641,564 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,724,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Melius Research raised 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.34. 19,813,408 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,201,264. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.31, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.13. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

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.