UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $2.16 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,283 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,760 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,961 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $233,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at about $247,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 97,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 43,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 22,390 shares of the airline’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 8,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna decreased 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. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $33.58 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.33 and its 200-day moving average is $31.56.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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