TCW Group Inc. Sells 51,733 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,158 shares of the airline's stock after selling 51,733 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline's stock valued at $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline's stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,963,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $1,751,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $0.34 on Thursday, reaching $33.24. 5,285,882 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,089,826. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -479.43, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.62 and a 200-day moving average of $29.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently -1,028.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LUV. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.