Strs Ohio Sells 88,892 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,181 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 88,892 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the first quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,050 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $29.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 45.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.00.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm 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%. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target 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.