Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 7,404 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,404 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Motco increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 151.0% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 1,187 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,115 shares of the airline’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $74,000. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $75,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $29.46 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.38) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

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.