First Trust Advisors LP Has $23.19 Million Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 689,872 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 45,097 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.12% of Southwest Airlines worth $23,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $26.49 on Friday. 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 $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 84.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.54.

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.