Investors Purchase High Volume of Southwest Airlines Put Options (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 26,202 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 40% compared to the average volume of 18,729 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LUV. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWC Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline's stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 55,458 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $131,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of LUV traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.58. The company had a trading volume of 10,680,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,502,483. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.54.

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 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is 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.