Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director Acquires $15,740.00 in Stock

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director Sarah Feinberg bought 500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.48 per share, with a total value of $15,740.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,150.28. The trade was a 7.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $31.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.24. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.72.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 55,458 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $638,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $131,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 16,599 shares of the airline’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 7,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.