Bank of Hawaii Invests $351,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Bank of Hawaii has invested approximately $351,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. by acquiring 10,455 shares in the first quarter.
• Southwest Airlines reported $0.43 earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of the analysts' estimates of $0.51, and its revenue decreased by 2.1% year-over-year.
• The airline recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and authorized a stock buyback plan worth $2.00 billion, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Bank of Hawaii bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,455 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position 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 worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.54 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a PE ratio of 49.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $33.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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