Stevens Capital Management LP Increases Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 211.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,818 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,680 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,929,000 after purchasing an additional 103,834 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock worth $83,299,000 after purchasing an additional 23,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $22,506,000 after buying an additional 163,544 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 14,826 shares of the airline’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Evercore ISI restated an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.18.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.8 %

LUV stock traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,101,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,782,478. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $39.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 96.00%.

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.