Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC Sells 179,700 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 16.1%, selling 179,700 shares, and now holds 938,909 shares worth approximately $31.5 million.
• Research analysts are mixed on the stock, with four analysts rating it as a Buy and nine as a Hold, resulting in a consensus price target of $33.06.
• Southwest Airlines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 and is initiating a $2.00 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued.

Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 938,909 shares of the airline's stock after selling 179,700 shares during the quarter. Southwest Airlines accounts for about 2.5% of Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Southwest Airlines worth $31,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock valued at $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $50,433,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,857.9% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,013,657 shares of the airline's stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 979,388 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,668,533,000 after purchasing an additional 788,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $32.33 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.98, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.19. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $32.98 and a 200-day moving average of $31.29.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally 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.

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