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) by 69.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund 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 SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $85,262,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $1,919,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $155,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.52.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.5 %

LUV stock opened at $34.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.