Captrust Financial Advisors Has $2.12 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,019 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,858 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock worth $95,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641,564 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,262,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,724,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 16,670 shares of company stock valued at $464,944 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $31.22 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.25 and its 200-day moving average is $31.05. The firm has a market cap of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.43.

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.