Triangle Securities Wealth Management Takes $226,000 Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,718 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -459.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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 $32.31.

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.