Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 68.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,909 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 58,283 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock valued at $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock valued at $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during 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 during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $37.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.23. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $37.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.36) EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LUV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.