Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Makes New $206,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,128 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 90.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the airline’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 63,119 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline’s stock worth $20,421,000 after buying an additional 21,805 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 144,692 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 15,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 23,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 5,450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.72.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.1 %

LUV stock opened at $29.20 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.44 and a 200 day moving average of $31.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 40.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve 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 results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.