Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Sells 16,841 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,277 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 16,841 shares during the period. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,872 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $23,193,000 after acquiring an additional 45,097 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 138,841 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,668,000 after acquiring an additional 29,516 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $3,347,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 158,694 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of LUV opened at $31.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.89 and a 200 day moving average of $31.13. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The firm has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.26. 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 announced 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). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hsbc Global Res raised Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought 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 approximately $427,012.29. This represents 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 owned by insiders.

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.