Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by City State Bank

City State Bank cut its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,155 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. City State Bank’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $37,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 67.8% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Saturday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.16 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.70. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 49.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.77%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, 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. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.