World Investment Advisors Acquires 3,603 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,497 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $608,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 10.6 %

NYSE LUV opened at $25.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.62. The firm has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio 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.