HB Wealth Management LLC Has $396,000 Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. by 60.1%, now owning 12,220 shares worth approximately $396,000 after selling 18,397 shares in the second quarter.
• Analysts have set new target prices for Southwest Airlines, with Susquehanna and Evercore ISI raising their targets to $35.00, while the stock holds an average rating of "Hold" amidst mixed analyst sentiments.
• In a recent acquisition, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares at $30.01 per share, increasing her stake in the company, reflecting insider confidence in the stock's value.

HB Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 60.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,220 shares of the airline's stock after selling 18,397 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline's stock valued at $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 317,166 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $212,000. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 11,644 shares of the airline's stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,406 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 22,428 shares of the airline's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $369,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% 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.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.56 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.50. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The firm has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

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

Southwest Airlines Company 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.

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