Sarah Feinberg Buys 1,500 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stock

Key Points

• Sarah Feinberg, Director of Southwest Airlines, purchased 1,500 shares at an average price of $30.01, increasing her stake by 11.78% to a total of 14,229 shares, valued at approximately $427,012.29.
• Southwest Airlines recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43, falling short of the $0.51 consensus estimate, with revenues of $7.24 billion for the quarter, down 2.1% from the previous year.
• The company has initiated a $2.00 billion stock repurchase program, allowing it to buy back up to 9.4% of its stock, a move typically indicating that management believes the shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.56. 6,303,699 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,995,563. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $33.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.78, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,744 shares of the airline's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at $1,675,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 347,826 shares of the airline's stock valued at $11,694,000 after acquiring an additional 72,281 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 776,839 shares of the airline's stock valued at $26,117,000 after acquiring an additional 233,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 75,544 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,540,000 after acquiring an additional 20,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.06.

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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