Leibman Financial Services Inc. Buys 3,594 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Leibman Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 157,445 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines accounts for about 3.3% of Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in 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 last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.21.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.2 %

LUV opened at $30.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.03 and a 200-day moving average of $27.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.68, a P/E/G ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

Southwest Airlines 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.