Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Nuance Investments LLC

Nuance Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 69.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 217,527 shares of the airline's stock after selling 483,873 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $7,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director C. David Cush bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.03 per share, with a total value of $150,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $570,900.33. The trade was a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.0 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.58. The company had a trading volume of 10,680,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,502,483. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LUV. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.54.

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.