Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by TD Asset Management Inc

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.7%, owning 246,557 shares valued at approximately $8.28 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Southwest Airlines reported a quarterly EPS of $0.43, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51, and had a 2.1% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company's Board authorized a $2.00 billion stock buyback plan, allowing the repurchase of up to 9.4% of its shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 42.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,557 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 73,749 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $8,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline's stock valued at $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 317,166 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 11,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 69,413 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Barclays upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:LUV opened at $30.91 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.84, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.47 and a 200-day moving average of $31.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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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