Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Bought by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,367 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,961 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,668,533,000 after purchasing an additional 788,255 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,602,939 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $120,987,000 after purchasing an additional 136,410 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 2,857,308 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $95,948,000 after purchasing an additional 321,258 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,244,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,433,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $29.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.62, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. The company 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to repurchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.