Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $3.95 Million Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,021 shares of the airline's stock after acquiring an additional 21,626 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,859,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,374 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 43,966 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 5,171 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 34,267 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.52 per share, for a total transaction of $198,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 23,156 shares in the company, valued at $614,097.12. This trade represents a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Melius raised Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.81.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $37.13 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $37.85. The company's 50 day moving average price is $32.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.14. The stock has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.36) EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

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.

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