Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 63,051 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 96.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,359 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,051 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $34.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.37.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued 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%. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on LUV shares. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

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.