Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,945 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,832 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 689,872 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $23,193,000 after buying an additional 45,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 158,694 shares of the airline’s stock worth $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 89.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 40,962 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 19,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 266.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 289,821 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $9,744,000 after purchasing an additional 210,772 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.3%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.1850 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.26. 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 $32.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.13.

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). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 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 acquired 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.