Gregg A. Saretsky Purchases 3,670 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.3 %

LUV opened at $29.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.02. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.36) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.43.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.