Olstein Capital Management L.P. Buys 65,000 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 258,000 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,972,362,000 after buying an additional 2,148,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline's stock valued at $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline's stock worth $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $31.26. 5,613,004 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,346,931. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.24. The company has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -448.43, a PEG ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $22.58 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.