Tidal Investments LLC Buys 11,173 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,691 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 11,173 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline's stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 32,200 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.88.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $1.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.66. 13,844,190 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,150,632. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.36) EPS. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. 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.