Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) to Repurchase $2.00 billion in Outstanding Shares

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $2.00 billion in 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 believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.21. 16,998,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,062,287. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $33.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.34. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 5.95%. The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.