Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 325.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,569 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 155,741 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the 4th 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock worth $100,080,000 after buying an additional 46,110 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $34.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a PE ratio of 47.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LUV. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company 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.