Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Short Interest Update

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 41,650,000 shares, a growth of 29.1% from the February 13th total of 32,250,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,963,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $32.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.00, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.02.

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.