Quarry LP Makes New $68,000 Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,283 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth about $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,963,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,751,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.61.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $34.18 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.02. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -488.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase 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.