Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Acquired by Bingham Private Wealth LLC

Bingham Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,880 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Bingham Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 16,998 shares of the airline’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a PE ratio of 49.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. The trade was a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by 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.