Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,753 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during 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. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of LUV opened at $29.80 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $32.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.82. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

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 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.