Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Oldfield Partners LLP

Key Points

• Oldfield Partners LLP reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.5%, now owning approximately 1,006,800 shares worth $33,808,000, which represents 9.9% of its investment portfolio.
• Southwest Airlines recently announced a $2.00 billion stock repurchase plan to buy back outstanding shares, indicating confidence from leadership in the stock's value.
• Research analysts have mixed opinions on Southwest Airlines, with ratings ranging from sell to buy, and a consensus rating of "Hold" along with an average target price of $32.75.

Oldfield Partners LLP lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,800 shares of the airline's stock after selling 36,100 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines comprises about 9.9% of Oldfield Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Oldfield Partners LLP owned 0.18% of Southwest Airlines worth $33,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,099 shares of the airline's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 42.7% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 246,557 shares of the airline's stock worth $8,279,000 after buying an additional 73,749 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $4,327,000. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $277,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 122,303 shares of the airline's stock worth $4,107,000 after purchasing an additional 15,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Seven research 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $32.51. The company had a trading volume of 15,888,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,251,337. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.26, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.52 and a 200 day moving average of $31.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts' expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.29 per share, for a total transaction of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.