Caprock Group LLC Boosts Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,375 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $2,963,000. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $614,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LUV. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price target (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.08.

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 transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.5 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.50.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.