Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,963 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 2,147 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $33.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.88. The stock has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -482.57, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas raised Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines 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.