Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 63.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,245 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Motco grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the third quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $29.30 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.53. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.54.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.27) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.00%.

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.