Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 29,345 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 30% compared to the typical volume of 22,657 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.59.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $41.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $43.54. The firm has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a PE ratio of 63.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $34.09 and its 200-day moving average is $33.13.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.