Sig Brokerage LP Buys New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Sig Brokerage LP purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,980 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 74,387 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 5,567 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 86,812 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,919,000 after buying an additional 10,929 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 93,717 shares of the airline's stock valued at $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 45,707 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $298,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LUV. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $31.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.21, 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.40 and a 200 day moving average of $31.06. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.36) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

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.

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