Northern Trust Corp Sells 13,272 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp trimmed its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. by 0.3%, now owning 4,884,292 shares valued at $164.02 million.
• Southwest Airlines recently declared a $2 billion share buyback program, allowing the repurchase of up to 9.4% of its shares, indicating the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The airline also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of 109.09%.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,884,292 shares of the airline's stock after selling 13,272 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.86% of Southwest Airlines worth $164,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.54. The company had a trading volume of 7,783,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,972,334. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $37.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved 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 buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.