Ethic Inc. Sells 615 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Ethic Inc. decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,309 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 615 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $32.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a PE ratio of 49.48, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.37 and its 200-day moving average is $31.72. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased 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 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on 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 Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Saturday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.38.

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.