Southwest Airlines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 33,801 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the average daily volume of 24,401 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Sarah Feinberg bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.01 per share, for a total transaction of $45,015.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 14,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,012.29. This trade represents a 11.78% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $100,450.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,029.32. The trade was a 16.48% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,857 shares of the airline’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the first quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the airline’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 0.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LUV shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of LUV opened at $33.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a PE ratio of 51.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.21. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%.The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the airline to purchase up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

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.