BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Reduces Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S drastically reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by selling 94,569 shares, decreasing its ownership by 95% to just 4,971 shares.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Southwest Airlines, with the consensus rating at "Reduce" and an average target price of $33.06.
• Southwest Airlines announced a $0.18 quarterly dividend, with a 2.2% yield, and a stock repurchase plan of up to $2 billion, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 95.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,971 shares of the airline's stock after selling 94,569 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after purchasing an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock valued at $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline's stock valued at $164,656,000 after purchasing an additional 400,886 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline's stock valued at $120,987,000 after purchasing an additional 136,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline's stock valued at $95,948,000 after purchasing an additional 321,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,190,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,311,780. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.19.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date 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 permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,029.32. The trade was 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 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.