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

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 62.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 189,763 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,623,000 after acquiring an additional 72,721 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $247,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,751,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.7% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 38,795 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 4,074 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.77. 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 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.25.

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.