TCW Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 8.6% in Q1, owning 276,616 shares valued at approximately $9.29 million.
• Major investors, including Franklin Resources and Jacobs Levy Equity Management, increased their holdings in Southwest Airlines, with institutional investors owning 80.82% of the stock.
• Southwest Airlines declared a $2 billion stock buyback plan and reported a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, despite facing earnings misses in recent reports.

TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,616 shares of the airline's stock after buying an additional 21,866 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $9,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 370.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,919 shares of the airline's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings 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 period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.7% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.03. The company had a trading volume of 5,374,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,039,145. 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 firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 46.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $37.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.31.

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

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Seven investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.75.

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.