Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 23,259 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 82.2%, now holding 5,049 shares valued at $170,000.
• Despite some large investors increasing their positions in LUV, analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $32.75.
• Southwest Airlines recently announced a $2.00 billion stock buyback plan indicating belief from its leadership that the shares are undervalued.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 82.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,049 shares of the airline's stock after selling 23,259 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after purchasing an additional 320,421 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline's stock worth $205,476,000 after purchasing an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline's stock worth $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,564 shares of the airline's stock worth $164,656,000 after purchasing an additional 400,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% in the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline's stock worth $95,948,000 after purchasing an additional 321,258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.81. The stock had a trading volume of 12,569,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,055,449. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.45 and a 200 day moving average of $31.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.17, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $37.96.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LUV. HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.75.

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.