Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 9,504,201 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 46.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.05% of Southwest Airlines worth $932,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after acquiring an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE LUV opened at $33.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.67 and a 200-day moving average of $29.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -474.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 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.

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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.76 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.37.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $132,405.60. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.