Teza Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,055 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.7%

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.98. The stock had a trading volume of 9,083,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,124,260. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. 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 prior year, the firm posted ($0.36) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines 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.