Slate Path Capital LP Increases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Slate Path Capital LP increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 401.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,000 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 434,000 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP owned 0.09% of Southwest Airlines worth $18,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,545,000 after buying an additional 88,869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,534,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,898,015. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average is $29.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.