Cadence Bank Sells 796 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Cadence Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,112 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $24.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.28. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Southwest Airlines 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.