Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $1.63 Million Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank has reduced its stake in Southwest Airlines by 68.1%, now holding approximately $1.63 million in shares after selling over 103,000 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors control 80.82% of Southwest Airlines' stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its stake by over 3,500% during the same quarter.
• Southwest Airlines announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, yielding 2.4%, and initiated a $2 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 68.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,467 shares of the airline's stock after selling 103,340 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.81. 12,569,951 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,684,072. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $33.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.27. 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 $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26.

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 firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 109.09%.

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.