8,740 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Bought by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,740 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.97 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.65. The company has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -456.71, a PEG ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.