Bank of Hawaii Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Bank of Hawaii acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,455 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantitative Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,198.2% in the first quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC now owns 236,783 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after buying an additional 226,480 shares during the period. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.9% in the first quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 16,903 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at $354,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at $440,000. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 24,423 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.26. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $32.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LUV. Susquehanna upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $33.06.

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.