Martin Worley Group Invests $296,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Martin Worley Group purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,818 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after buying an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,545,000 after purchasing an additional 88,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $116,247,000 after purchasing an additional 56,757 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.91 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.32, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.