WS Management Lllp Purchases Shares of 600,000 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

WS Management Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 600,000 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $20,172,000. Southwest Airlines makes up about 1.9% of WS Management Lllp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. WS Management Lllp owned 0.10% of Southwest Airlines as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $614,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $608,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,539,000 after buying an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $523,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.3%

LUV stock opened at $32.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $29.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.09.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is presently 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.

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