Triton Wealth Management PLLC Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Triton Wealth Management PLLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines, purchasing 8,916 shares valued at approximately $297,000 in the second quarter.
• As of now, 80.82% of Southwest Airlines' stock is owned by institutional investors, indicating strong institutional interest in the airline.
• Southwest Airlines announced a $2 billion share repurchase program and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, reflecting its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Triton Wealth Management PLLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,916 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after buying an additional 788,255 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline's stock valued at $120,987,000 after acquiring an additional 136,410 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline's stock valued at $95,948,000 after acquiring an additional 321,258 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,433,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on LUV shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $33.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.59, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. As a group, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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