New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Trims Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.4%, owning 150,471 shares after selling 12,096 shares in the first quarter, valued at approximately $5.05 million.
• Southwest Airlines reported a missed earnings estimate for the quarter with earnings per share at $0.43, falling short of the expected $0.51, alongside a revenue drop of 2.1% year-over-year.
• The airline's board announced a $2.00 billion share buyback plan and set a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, reflecting a 109.09% payout ratio.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 150,471 shares of the airline's stock after selling 12,096 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LUV. Sfmg LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 66.3% during the first quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 51,590 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 20,576 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 126.1% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 5,300 shares of the airline's stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,956 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 16.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 3,500 shares of the airline's stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $29.94 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.24. The firm has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $37.96. 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 (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). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for 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%. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LUV. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.06.

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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