Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,474 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $5,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at about $2,963,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.3 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.77. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year 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.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines 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 $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.