Bryce Point Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Bryce Point Capital LLC has invested approximately $718,000 in Southwest Airlines by acquiring 21,515 shares, according to their Form 13F filing.
• A significant percentage of Southwest Airlines stock, approximately 80.82%, is held by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Southwest Airlines has announced a $2.00 billion stock buyback program, which is a strategic move indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 21,515 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWC Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline's stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 16,998 shares of the airline's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 4.0%

NYSE LUV traded down $1.29 on Tuesday, hitting $31.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,272,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,097,791. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $33.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.32. The firm has a market cap of $17.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.31, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.