KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $2.96 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. by 21.9% after acquiring an additional 15,800 shares, bringing their total to 87,855 shares valued at approximately $2.96 million.
• Southwest Airlines declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and authorized a share buyback plan worth $2 billion, which indicates management's belief in the stock's undervaluation.
• Research analysts are mixed on Southwest Airlines, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.75, while several firms adjusting price objectives between $23.00 and $40.00.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,855 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 15,800 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 370.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV traded down $0.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.74. 3,066,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,021,213. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $33.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.32. The company has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.