Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Trims Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lessened its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 76.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,117 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 3,726 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,545,000 after purchasing an additional 88,869 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $116,247,000 after buying an additional 56,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.0 %

LUV opened at $34.84 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. 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 capitalization of $20.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.37.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Raymond James increased 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 raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.