Corient Private Wealth LLC Purchases 30,754 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 152,900 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,754 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $40,541,000. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $8,973,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth $4,728,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $34.84 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $20.65 billion, a PE ratio of 48.39, a P/E/G 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price target (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Argus upgraded shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.