Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Buys 5,496 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 50.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,491 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,496 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,951,000 after purchasing an additional 317,166 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,081,622 shares of the airline’s stock worth $36,321,000 after acquiring an additional 36,822 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 136,125 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 6,090 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.96, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $37.96.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,012.29. This represents a 11.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.31.

About Southwest Airlines

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.