Savant Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,854 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,668,533,000 after buying an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $120,987,000 after acquiring an additional 136,410 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% in the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline’s stock worth $95,948,000 after acquiring an additional 321,258 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth approximately $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,433,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.73.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.29. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

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

About Southwest Airlines

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.