Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires New Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,135 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.38 on Thursday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $30.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.34. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.46 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -462.57, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.96.

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.