Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 6,006 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,867 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,006 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 68,470 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 27.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 58,161 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 12,701 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 44.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,793 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 26.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,761 shares of the airline’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LUV. Barclays raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $25.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.58. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.