Larson Financial Group LLC Acquires 3,194 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 63.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,245 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,866,933 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $131,748,000 after acquiring an additional 32,089 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,606,555 shares of the airline’s stock worth $75,277,000 after purchasing an additional 50,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,619,499 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,840,000 after purchasing an additional 418,624 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 96.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. StockNews.com cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

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.