Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Cuts Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lessened its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,088 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at $608,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Melius Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.54.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $26.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.09. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.