Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Buys Shares of 37,043 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 37,043 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $311,634,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $1,223,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $28.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.16 and a 200-day moving average of $28.57. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.38.

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.