Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,732 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 711 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,965 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 15,976 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 6,138 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.9 %

LUV opened at $30.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.60. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Southwest Airlines

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.