Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $90.88 Million Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has significantly reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 55.0% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.47% of the company with a value of $90.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 80.82% of the company's stock owned by various institutional investors, including significant investments from AQR Capital Management and Alyeska Investment Group.
• Southwest Airlines recently announced a $2 billion share buyback program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, reflecting the board's belief that its stock may be undervalued.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 55.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,706,230 shares of the airline's stock after selling 3,308,598 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Southwest Airlines worth $90,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline's stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought 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 approximately $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LUV stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.36. 8,026,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,692,803. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.32. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 47.52, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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 firm earned $0.58 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.