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

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,280,000 shares, a drop of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 41,650,000 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on LUV. 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.43.

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Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $2.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.89. 18,926,246 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,585,595. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.62. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $17.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.