Country Club Bank Sells 2,417 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Country Club Bank trimmed its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,192 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,417 shares during the quarter. Country Club Bank’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $2,963,000. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $30.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.47.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (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, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.