Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Acquires 44,622 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 560.6% in the first quarter, holding shares worth approximately $1.77 million after acquiring an additional 44,622 shares.
• Analysts have mixed views on Southwest Airlines, with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Reduce", while the consensus rating is currently "Reduce" with an average price target of $33.06.
• Southwest Airlines announced a dividend of $0.18 per share to be paid on September 24th, along with a stock repurchase program of up to $2 billion for outstanding shares.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 560.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,581 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 44,622 shares during the quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,433,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2,857.9% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,013,657 shares of the airline's stock valued at $34,079,000 after acquiring an additional 979,388 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after acquiring an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WS Management Lllp acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,172,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the firm'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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV traded down $0.70 on Tuesday, hitting $32.20. 5,279,401 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,465,556. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.27.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

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.