Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Southwest Airlines Call Options (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 29,849 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 42% compared to the average daily volume of 20,988 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related 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 bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth about $614,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,503 shares of the airline's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $608,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.5 %

LUV stock traded down $0.65 on Monday, hitting $25.54. 12,186,850 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,800,628. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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