Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Invests $206,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,128 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,541,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $4,728,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $29.20 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.72.

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.