Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Acquired by Country Club Bank

Country Club Bank raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,961 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 818 shares during the quarter. Country Club Bank’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other 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 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 23,381 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at about $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $32.55 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $37.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.64 and its 200-day moving average is $31.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.38.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought 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 owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.