Credit Agricole S A Acquires 9,617 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.7%, acquiring an additional 9,617 shares for a total holding of 152,939 shares valued at approximately $5.14 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in Southwest Airlines, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its holdings by 3,538.6%, now owning 326,129 shares valued at around $10.95 million.
• Southwest Airlines announced a $2 billion stock repurchase program, allowing it to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares, indicating the board's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Credit Agricole S A lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,939 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 9,617 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,872 shares of the airline's stock worth $23,193,000 after purchasing an additional 45,097 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $368,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 12,403 shares of the airline's stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $459,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,654,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $33.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $32.54. 7,783,202 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,972,334. 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 current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.16.

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 return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.