Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $53,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,565 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 90.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,642 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $34.84 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.39.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LUV shares. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday. 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 report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

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.