Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,147 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $34.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.43. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.52.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.