Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Bought by M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,914 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.2% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,783 shares of the airline’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 16.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,141 shares of the airline’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 3,906 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $101,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 20.2% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,254 shares of the airline’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 184,045 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,970,000 after buying an additional 22,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.35 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 $31.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.42. The company has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.21. 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 Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. 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 was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were 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 was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.