ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Has $18.77 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 558,200 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,000 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $18,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after buying an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $164,656,000 after purchasing an additional 400,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $29.82 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.02. The stock has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.36) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.43.

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.