Mattson Financial Services LLC Buys Shares of 45,630 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 45,630 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.