RFG Advisory LLC Purchases New Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 21,166 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,770 shares of the airline’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.12 on Monday. 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 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of -458.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 price objective (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.31.

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.