Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Invests $1.75 Million in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 59,101 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after purchasing an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased 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. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,963,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade 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.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -463.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $35.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

About Southwest Airlines

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.