TD Private Client Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 41.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.70 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -467.07, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.74 and a 200 day moving average of $29.31.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on LUV. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.37.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.