Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Purchased by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,629 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 371,414 shares of the airline’s stock worth $12,049,000 after acquiring an additional 13,602 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $1,783,000. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 31.2% during the second quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 86,803 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 20,643 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $230,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $33.30 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.45.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 110.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on LUV shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.80.

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.