Southwest Airlines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 26,202 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,729 put options.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of LUV traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $34.12. 4,795,389 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,117,684. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average of $31.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $202,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on LUV shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.52.

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.