Total Investment Management Inc. Acquires 11,882 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Total Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 88.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,352 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the quarter. Total Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 103,834 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,065,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after buying an additional 124,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock worth $311,634,000 after acquiring an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Melius reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.5 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.61. 10,740,125 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,707,550. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.73 and a 200 day moving average of $29.39. The firm has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.27) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

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.