KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 72,055 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $2,434,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $33.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.13, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.50.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

About Southwest Airlines

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.