DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 27,520 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 147,565 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 27,520 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third 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 last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $33.58 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.54.

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.