Quantitative Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2,198.2%, owning a total of 236,783 shares worth approximately $7.95 million.
• Southwest Airlines has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, along with a $2 billion stock buyback program.
• Analyst ratings for Southwest Airlines show mixed reviews, with a consensus rating currently at "Reduce" and an average price target of $33.06.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 2,198.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,783 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 226,480 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines makes up 0.7% of Quantitative Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 122.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 370.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HSBC cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $33.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.7350 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The firm has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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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