Caprock Group LLC Invests $259,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,740 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LUV opened at $31.97 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.65. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -456.71, a PEG ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LUV. Evercore ISI raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.78.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.