Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stake Cut by Towle & Co.

Towle & Co. reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 605,382 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 133,095 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines comprises approximately 3.5% of Towle & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Towle & Co. owned about 0.10% of Southwest Airlines worth $20,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $614,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $608,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares during the period. Finally, M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $523,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.69 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.44 and a 200 day moving average of $31.07.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.36) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna decreased 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 report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Melius Research upgraded shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.59.

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.