Southwest Airlines Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 62,436 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 161% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,898 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Melius upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.88.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $25.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. 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 one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.58 and its 200 day moving average is $31.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.

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