149,073 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Bought by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 149,073 shares of Southwest Airlines valued at approximately $5 million, signifying growing institutional interest in the airline.
• Southwest Airlines reported a net margin of 1.43% in its most recent quarterly earnings, with a revenue of $7.24 billion, missing analysts' expectations.
• The Board of Directors approved a $2 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation by the company's leadership.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 149,073 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $5,006,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at $42,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:LUV opened at $31.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.19. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.36.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid 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 (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired 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 directly 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. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38.

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.

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