Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Sold by Court Place Advisors LLC

Court Place Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,908 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,880 shares of the airline’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $31.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.06, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.38.

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.