Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 445 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,541 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $764,000. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $592,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -465.71, a PEG ratio of 7.62 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.47.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. 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 report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday. Finally, 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 note on Friday, July 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

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.