21,934 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Financial Sense Advisors Inc.

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 21,934 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,373 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,759 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,497 shares of the airline’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 48,422 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.15 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.23 and its 200-day moving average is $30.74. The firm has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.