Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. Makes New $208,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,182 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $1,339,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 122,054 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,616,000 after acquiring an additional 8,013 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth $435,000. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 157,445 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.