Ameriflex Group Inc. Invests $131,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,280 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after buying an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1,327.7% in 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 during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $85,262,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $57,724,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.98 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.42 and a 200-day moving average of $31.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 84.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.