Appian Way Asset Management LP Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Appian Way Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 143,033 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $4,238,000. Southwest Airlines comprises 1.0% of Appian Way Asset Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,756 shares of the airline’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 244.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 81,987 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 98.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 30,360 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 15,041 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,724 shares of the airline’s stock worth $192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 19.3% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 29,493 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.36 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $35.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.80. The company has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of -462.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUV. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

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.