Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 632,899 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 9,653 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.11% of Southwest Airlines worth $21,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,433,000. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after buying an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. WS Management Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,172,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

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

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $37.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.33. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.06.

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.