Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Purchased by Paladin Wealth LLC

Paladin Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,883 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,668,533,000 after acquiring an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline’s stock worth $120,987,000 after acquiring an additional 136,410 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline’s stock worth $95,948,000 after acquiring an additional 321,258 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $50,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.69 on Monday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.36. The company has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.02, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company 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 firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg acquired 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky acquired 3,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,029.32. This trade represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.