Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC Invests $216,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,422 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 55.8% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,955 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.19 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.13. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

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.