Rahlfs Capital LLC Acquires New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,429 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 10.6 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $25.79 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.13 and a 200 day moving average of $31.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.43.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.