Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $5.25 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 16.1%, owning 161,844 shares worth approximately $5.25 million after selling 31,165 shares in the second quarter.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Southwest Airlines, with UBS Group setting a new target of $34.00 and an average rating of "Hold" across several ratings.
• Southwest Airlines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share and initiated a share repurchase plan, allowing for the repurchase of up to $2.00 billion in stock.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,844 shares of the airline's stock after selling 31,165 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% in 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, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LUV shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.44.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.9%

LUV stock opened at $32.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.71, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.19. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.82 and a twelve month high of $37.96. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $31.88 and a 200-day moving average of $31.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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