Arkadios Wealth Advisors Invests $456,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors has acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co., consisting of 13,568 shares valued at approximately $456,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Southwest Airlines, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 80.82% of the company's stock.
• Southwest Airlines recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and initiated a stock repurchase plan authorizing buybacks of up to $2 billion in shares.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,568 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC lifted 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 370.3% during the fourth 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 shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the first 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 period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 35.7% during 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. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.3% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the airline's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.70. 8,834,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,034,015. The company's fifty day moving average is $33.37 and its 200-day moving average is $31.24. 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 $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 44.99, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

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.