Convergence Investment Partners LLC Makes New $609,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 18,148 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 370.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,998,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,482,312. The firm has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.33.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. Southwest Airlines'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 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.