Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Stake Lessened by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 75.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,715 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 149,474 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock worth $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $21,573,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.5 %

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $31.96 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of -456.50, a PEG ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.72.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.25.

Southwest Airlines 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.