Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 2,016 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,830 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,016 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline’s stock worth $10,951,000 after buying an additional 317,166 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,258,993 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,842,000 after buying an additional 18,270 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $530,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 548,423 shares of the airline’s stock worth $17,791,000 after buying an additional 23,381 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, with a total value of $45,015.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,229 shares in the company, valued at $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE LUV opened at $32.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.34, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.52. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. 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 (NYSE:LUV) last released 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

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.