Nebula Research & Development LLC Makes New $2.65 Million Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 78,953 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $2,654,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth about $3,482,000. Sfmg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,057,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,945,000 after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline's stock valued at $20,421,000 after acquiring an additional 21,805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on LUV shares. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.1 %

LUV traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $26.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,534,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,898,015. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.11. The company has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

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.