Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Position Increased by ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 558,200 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 91,000 shares during the quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Southwest Airlines worth $18,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,829 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $2,336,000. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 32,200 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 278.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 29,130 shares of the airline’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 21,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline’s stock worth $164,656,000 after buying an additional 400,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.3 %

LUV stock opened at $29.82 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 market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.02.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.36) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current 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 $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 84.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.43.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.