Comerica Bank Trims Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its shareholding in Southwest Airlines by 9.7%, now owning 80,073 shares valued at approximately $2.69 million.
• Southwest Airlines reported a quarterly EPS of $0.43, missing analysts' expectations of $0.51 and showing a 2.1% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.18 per share, scheduled for payment on September 24th, reflecting a yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 109.09%.

Comerica Bank cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80,073 shares of the airline's stock after selling 8,606 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in 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 period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Barclays upped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LUV stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $32.33. 4,304,148 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,435,337. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $32.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.28. The company has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.98, a PEG ratio of 0.85 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors 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 paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

About Southwest Airlines

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.