Truist Financial Corp Acquires 1,826 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,072 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.78.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of LUV opened at $30.27 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.94. 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 $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 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.