First Dallas Securities Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

First Dallas Securities Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,925 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $645,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 68,827 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.0% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 20,762 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $13,432,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,060 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, HSBC lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.8%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.52, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.32.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.