APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires Shares of 85,000 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 85,000 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $2,760,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,545,000 after acquiring an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,247,000 after acquiring an additional 56,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $26.22 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.27.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.