Stevens Capital Management LP Invests $280,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,628 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.1% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,547 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,050 shares of the airline’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.80.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $32.81 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 50.48, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.77%.

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.