D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 44,517 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 533.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,869 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 44,517 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the third quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 120.9% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the airline’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.82. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines 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.