Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.48 per share, with a total value of $15,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $230,150.28. The trade was a 7.34 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.
Southwest Airlines Stock Performance
Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.74 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $31.12 and its 200 day moving average is $31.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.
Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 100.00%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
LUV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $29.50 price target (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.72.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Southwest Airlines
Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock worth $932,894,000 after buying an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline's stock worth $107,359,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline's stock valued at $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised 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 valued at $95,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.
About Southwest Airlines
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Get Free Report)
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.
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