Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 783,225 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 120,982 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.14% of Southwest Airlines worth $26,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline's stock worth $120,987,000 after buying an additional 136,410 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $418,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $104,000. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,668,533,000 after purchasing an additional 788,255 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 66.3% during the first quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 51,590 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 20,576 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $30.78. 4,563,771 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,859,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96.

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 company had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Southwest Airlines's revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 109.09%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LUV. HSBC cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased 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 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $710,029.32. This represents 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 insiders.

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.