Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. by 6.0%, acquiring a total of 1,278,112 shares valued at approximately $42.9 million.
• Southwest Airlines recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2%, despite a payout ratio of 109.09%.
• Institutional investors currently hold 80.82% of Southwest Airlines' stock, indicating strong interest and confidence from large entities in the airline's performance.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,278,112 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 72,265 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.22% of Southwest Airlines worth $42,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cowa LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.2% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 10,152 shares of the airline's stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 32,924 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $12,015,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 161,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 42,832 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the firm'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 acquisition, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Evercore ISI reduced 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 note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.7%

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 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $32.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

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.