Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Trading Down 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) traded down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $29.16 and last traded at $29.39. 4,522,519 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 9,365,936 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.14.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.29%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after purchasing an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.