Leibman Financial Services Inc. Sells 47,558 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Leibman Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,887 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 47,558 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines comprises about 2.7% of Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,963,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.72 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.04. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -467.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.55.

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.