Affinity Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) by 32.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,665 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,767 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 2,374 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,502 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $141,000. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 88.9% in the first quarter. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.9% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,632 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 80.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of Southwest Airlines Company (LUV) opened at 53.15 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Company has a 1-year low of $36.05 and a 1-year high of $64.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $58.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.26.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The airline reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 26.07% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Company will post $3.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 15.34%.
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LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. BidaskClub cut Southwest Airlines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Zacks Investment Research cut Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Vetr raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.21 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, ValuEngine raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.66.
In other Southwest Airlines news, EVP Jeff Lamb sold 19,800 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $1,207,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 92,468 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,548. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Dr Cunningham bought 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $54.00 per share, with a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 66,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,616,326. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,218 shares of company stock valued at $2,838,204. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co (Southwest) operates Southwest Airlines, a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States and near-international markets. The Company provides point-to-point service. The Company offers ancillary service offerings, such as Southwest’s EarlyBird Check-In and transportation of pets and unaccompanied minors, in accordance with Southwest’s respective policies.
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