Cowa LLC Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Cowa LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,049 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.78.

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.