Quantbot Technologies LP Raises Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 62.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 189,763 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,721 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.5 %

LUV opened at $31.96 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.74 and its 200 day moving average is $28.72.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

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.