111 Capital Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• 111 Capital has acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co., purchasing 22,175 shares valued at approximately $719,000 in the second quarter.
• Several analysts revised their ratings, with JPMorgan upgrading the price target to $35.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $33.38.
• Southwest Airlines has implemented a $2.00 billion stock buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.2%.

111 Capital purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 22,175 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE LUV opened at $32.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $31.64 and a 200-day moving average of $31.52.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% 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.

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