Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Acquired by OLD National Bancorp IN

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 26.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,644 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,406 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.88.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 11,670 shares of company stock worth $314,794. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.4%

LUV opened at $34.37 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.71%.

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.