V Square Quantitative Management LLC Purchases 2,079 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 28.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,453 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,079 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% in the 1st 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 position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $30.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.17, a PEG ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.97 and its 200 day moving average is $28.06.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 114.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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 report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

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.