Register Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,661 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,544,387,000 after buying an additional 9,444,279 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $179,355,000 after buying an additional 1,238,468 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,789,000. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,404,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at about $13,193,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $28.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.39. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

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.