Tidal Investments LLC Lowers Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Tidal Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 53.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,518 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 51,806 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

LUV stock opened at $32.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.38. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12. The company has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -463.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The acquisition 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 that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, 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. 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.