IFP Advisors Inc Has $323,000 Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

IFP Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,024 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 824 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at $50,433,000. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after buying an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,163,000. Finally, Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $13,432,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of LUV opened at $33.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.38.

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.