Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 108,600 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 98.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 219,380 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $24.71 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.28. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.