Insider Buying: Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director Purchases 643,788 Shares of Stock

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,067,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,576,861. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.88. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.65, a PEG ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Melius reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,544,387,000 after buying an additional 9,444,279 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.