Midwest Trust Co Takes $490,000 Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 15,104 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,433,000. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 49,688,308 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,668,533,000 after purchasing an additional 788,255 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $24,330,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,163,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.01 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.25, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines 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.