Choreo LLC Sells 31,260 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Choreo LLC significantly reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 81.5%, selling 31,260 shares to hold 7,089 shares valued at approximately $240,000.
• A stock repurchase plan has been approved by the board, allowing Southwest Airlines to buy back up to $2.00 billion in shares, indicating that the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• Southwest Airlines missed earnings expectations, reporting $0.43 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.51, with revenue down 2.1% year-over-year at $7.24 billion.

Choreo LLC lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 81.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,089 shares of the airline's stock after selling 31,260 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWC Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the 4th 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 period. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline's stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake 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 increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.81. The company had a trading volume of 12,569,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,055,449. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The firm's 50 day moving average is $33.45 and its 200-day moving average is $31.28.

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 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 business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.75.

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.