Sfmg LLC Acquires 20,576 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 66.3% in the first quarter, bringing its total to 51,590 shares valued at approximately $1.73 million.
• Several analysts have adjusted their ratings on Southwest Airlines, with Citigroup lowering its target price to $23, while UBS Group raised it to $34, indicating a mixed outlook for the stock.
• Southwest Airlines declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with an annual yield of 2.4%, and announced a $2 billion stock buyback program aimed at repurchasing up to 9.4% of its shares.

Sfmg LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 66.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,590 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 20,576 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in 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 last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the first quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline's stock worth $547,000 after buying 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 last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 16,998 shares of the airline's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $29.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,834,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,687,240. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders 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 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership 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.