12,440 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Bought by ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired 12,440 shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV), valued at approximately $418,000, indicating increasing institutional interest in the airline.
• Southwest Airlines reported a miss on earnings for the latest quarter, with earnings per share of $0.43 compared to the expected $0.51, and a revenue decline of 2.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $2.00 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.18, reflecting management's confidence in the stock's value.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,440 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 370.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $1.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.75. 12,196,428 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,471,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.59, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $33.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines 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 bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.