Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 2,125 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 54.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,996 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,787 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.32 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $37.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average of $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 48.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 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.