Advisory Alpha LLC Buys 458 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,636 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,050 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the company’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 $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the purchase, the director owned 23,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $710,029.32. This represents a 16.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.0%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The stock has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.80.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LUV. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. HSBC lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $33.38.

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.