Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,844,143 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 844,165 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines accounts for approximately 1.3% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.09% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,584,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 88,205 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 18,051 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 133,100 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $4,318,000 after buying an additional 10,797 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.1% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 139,763 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,534,000 after buying an additional 4,229 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.8% in the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 22,488 shares of the airline’s stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.1% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,547 shares of the airline’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.73.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.24. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.39.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.