Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 25.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,430 shares of the airline's stock after selling 19,114 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 370.3% during 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. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in 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. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.56. The stock had a trading volume of 6,303,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,639,722. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $37.96.

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

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.06.

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.