Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,340 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 3,617 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after acquiring an additional 788,255 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $120,987,000 after acquiring an additional 136,410 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $95,948,000 after acquiring an additional 321,258 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,433,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of LUV opened at $32.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.19. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.52.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $7.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Susquehanna boosted 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.38.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $100,450.35. Following the acquisition, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% 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.

Southwest Airlines 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.