Short Interest in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Declines By 15.3%

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 35,280,000 shares, a decline of 15.3% from the February 28th total of 41,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after buying an additional 372,313 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after buying an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 8.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded down $2.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.08. 13,089,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,565,363. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.32 and its 200-day moving average price 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.