Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys Shares of 21,918 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 21,918 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $736,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline's stock worth $10,951,000 after buying an additional 317,166 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 75,531 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 9,668 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.13.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director David P. Hess acquired 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE LUV traded down $0.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.54. 7,951,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,259,224. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $37.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.23. The company has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.36) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 84.71%.

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.