Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 28.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,289 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 5,803 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $164,656,000 after buying an additional 400,886 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% in the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $95,948,000 after buying an additional 321,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $29.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of 44.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. HSBC cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.06.

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.