Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Position Lifted by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 55.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,412 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,633 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.88.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $25.85 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.22 and a 200-day moving average of $31.40. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% 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.