QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 17,988 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 271.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,621 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,988 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $31.72 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.