Penserra Capital Management LLC Sells 6,952 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Penserra Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 23,697 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 6,952 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 8.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 93,961 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.2% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,977 shares of the airline’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.2% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after purchasing an additional 46,110 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on LUV shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of LUV opened at $32.36 on Thursday. 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 $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -462.29, a PEG ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.75. 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 posted 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

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.