Terril Brothers Inc. Takes $5.05 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Terril Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 150,300 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,000. Southwest Airlines comprises 1.5% of Terril Brothers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,247,000 after acquiring an additional 56,757 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $524,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,564,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,859,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 62,462 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $31.07 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.