Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,147 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third 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. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $34.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.43. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.48, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LUV. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted 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. Barclays upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

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.