Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Invests $214,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 7,404 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Motco boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.46 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.38) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.00%.

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.