Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Trims Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

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Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA lessened its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,277 shares of the airline's stock after selling 16,841 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 58,687 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 12,174 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 543.0% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 3,215 shares of the airline's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,278,112 shares of the airline's stock valued at $42,919,000 after purchasing an additional 72,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cowa LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 10,152 shares of the airline's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. 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 research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 5.4%

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $1.6650 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.7350. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,443,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,676,020. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. 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 company has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

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.