Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Short Interest Down 15.3% in March

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,280,000 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 41,650,000 shares. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 10,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $247,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 84,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 68,470 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 58,161 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,701 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $31.62. The stock had a trading volume of 5,400,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,535,042. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average of $31.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.92, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

About Southwest Airlines

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.