Korea Investment CORP Sells 16,500 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. by 41.9%, now owning 22,900 shares valued at $769,000 after selling 16,500 shares.
• Other investors, such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Mirae Asset Global Investments, have significantly increased their positions in Southwest Airlines, indicating a mixed sentiment towards the stock.
• Southwest Airlines recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and announced a stock repurchase plan allowing for $2 billion in repurchases, suggesting management's confidence in the stock's value.

Korea Investment CORP cut its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 41.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,900 shares of the airline's stock after selling 16,500 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline's stock worth $10,951,000 after buying an additional 317,166 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 10.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 69,413 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $33.06.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% 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

Shares of LUV opened at $32.7350 on Friday. 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's 50 day moving average price is $32.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

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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