Southwest Airlines Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 29,345 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 30% compared to the average volume of 22,657 put options.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $41.59. The stock had a trading volume of 4,584,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,924,301. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.82 and a fifty-two week high of $43.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.92 and a 200-day moving average of $33.08.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 1.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 110.77%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth $27,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 81.4% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LUV. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.59.

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.