Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 87.9%, now owning only 1,309 shares valued at $42,000 after selling 9,544 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Southwest Airlines has seen diverse movements in institutional investments, with 80.82% of the stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, while several firms adjusted their positions during the same period.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Southwest Airlines, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38, indicating mixed market sentiment.

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,309 shares of the airline's stock after selling 9,544 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline's stock valued at $40,842,000 after buying an additional 18,270 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline's stock valued at $17,791,000 after buying an additional 23,381 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $313,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents 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.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $33.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $32.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.45. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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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