Savant Capital LLC Acquires 1,941 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 15,976 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 6,138 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 33,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $609,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on LUV. Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.21 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.