Mendel Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 6,806 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mendel Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,806 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of -465.71, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.