6,173 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Purchased by Foundations Investment Advisors LLC

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,173 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LUV. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,342 shares of the airline’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 16,744 shares of the airline’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,321 shares of the airline’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 20,497 shares of the airline’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,867 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 3.6%

LUV opened at $29.81 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.27.

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

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.75.

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.