Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New $645,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC invested $645,000 in Southwest Airlines Company, acquiring 19,097 shares in the airline during the first quarter.
• Recent quarterly earnings showed a missed consensus estimate, with earnings per share at $0.43 compared to the anticipated $0.51, indicating a decline in revenue by 2.1% year-over-year.
• Southwest Airlines has approved a $2.00 billion stock repurchase program, a signal that the company believes its shares are undervalued, which could impact shareholder value positively.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,097 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,569 shares of the airline's stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 6,485 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 106,398 shares of the airline's stock valued at $3,577,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,950 shares of the airline's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 44,930 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $31.69. The stock had a trading volume of 10,395,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,763,064. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.35. The stock has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.