US Bancorp DE Sells 24,011 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE sold 24,011 shares of Southwest Airlines Co., reducing its holdings by 19.4%, and now owns 99,480 shares valued at approximately $3.23 million.
• Southwest Airlines has approved a $2 billion share repurchase plan, allowing the company to buy back up to 9.4% of its shares, indicating board confidence in the stock's undervaluation.
• The company's recent quarterly dividend was set at $0.18 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%, although the payout ratio is quite high at 109.09%.

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,480 shares of the airline's stock after selling 24,011 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline's stock valued at $40,842,000 after acquiring an additional 18,270 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the first 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. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline's stock valued at $17,791,000 after acquiring an additional 23,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

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

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.7%

LUV stock opened at $33.39 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $31.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.42. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to reacquire up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.38.

About Southwest Airlines

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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