Nuance Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Nuance Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 701,400 shares of the airline's stock after selling 52,636 shares during the quarter. Nuance Investments LLC owned 0.12% of Southwest Airlines worth $20,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline's stock worth $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline's stock worth $45,498,000 after buying an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.8 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.77. The stock had a trading volume of 6,447,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,217,968. The company has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -462.29, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.56. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.