Curio Wealth LLC Purchases 2,124 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Curio Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 70,800.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,127 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the quarter. Curio Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,842,000 after acquiring an additional 18,270 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline’s stock worth $17,791,000 after acquiring an additional 23,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth $313,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.16 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.65. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LUV. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.

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.