Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,200 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,963,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.72 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of -467.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.92 and a 200-day moving average of $30.04.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

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.