AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 36.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 329,366 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 88,106 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Southwest Airlines worth $9,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $29.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.94, a PEG ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.81 and a 200 day moving average of $27.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.