Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Sells 10,893 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. by 12.1%, now holding 79,051 shares valued at approximately $2.66 million.
• Several institutional investors have adjusted their positions, with notable increases in holdings from Quantitative Investment Management LLC and new acquisitions by Bank of Hawaii and Allstate Corp.
• Southwest Airlines recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and announced a share buyback plan authorizing the repurchase of up to $2 billion in outstanding shares.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,051 shares of the airline's stock after selling 10,893 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Hawaii acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $351,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,198.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC now owns 236,783 shares of the airline's stock valued at $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 226,480 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 16,903 shares of the airline's stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Finally, Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $440,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Hsbc Global Res raised Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.8%

LUV stock opened at $33.42 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.18. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.

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