Highland Peak Capital LLC Takes $2.96 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Highland Peak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 100,000 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $2,963,000. Southwest Airlines comprises approximately 1.3% of Highland Peak Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $21,573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $31.77 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of -453.86, a PEG ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.58.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

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.