Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by TD Asset Management Inc

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc sold 39.7% of its stake in Southwest Airlines Co., reducing its holdings to 148,628 shares worth approximately $4.8 million.
• In recent insider trades, Director Gregg A. Saretsky increased his ownership by 16.48%, acquiring 3,345 shares at an average price of $30.03 each.
• Analyst target prices for Southwest Airlines have been raised, with the average target price now at $33.38, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold" among investment analysts.

TD Asset Management Inc trimmed its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 39.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,628 shares of the airline's stock after selling 97,929 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $40,842,000 after acquiring an additional 18,270 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline's stock worth $17,791,000 after acquiring an additional 23,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth $313,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $34.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.52.

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

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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