OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires New Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 6,204 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 16,670 shares of company stock worth $464,944. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Argus raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.36) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.71%.

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.