Family Legacy Inc. Takes $207,000 Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Family Legacy Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,300 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $608,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $33.58 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.63, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LUV. Raymond James upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.54.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.