Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $344,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,245 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,342 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.7% during 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 during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,321 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 20,497 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,867 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 6,006 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $29.81 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 45.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $33.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.27.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LUV. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. HSBC downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.