Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 20,661 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,544 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 20,661 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,308,146,000 after acquiring an additional 426,878 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,108,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896,150 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline's stock worth $475,092,000 after buying an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,466,529 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,545,000 after acquiring an additional 88,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 3,457,661 shares of the airline's stock valued at $116,247,000 after acquiring an additional 56,757 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.71. 11,518,405 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,905,988. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.32. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.88.

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.