VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases Shares of 1,244 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,244 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 74,290 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,498,000 after purchasing an additional 19,173 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 152,900 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,141,000 after acquiring an additional 30,754 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,026 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 128,359 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,315,000 after purchasing an additional 63,051 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Raymond James upped their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.02.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $33.63 on Thursday. 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 cap of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.31. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.