Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 2,207.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,797 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 143,304 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $4,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 6,210,347 shares of the airline's stock worth $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,866,933 shares of the airline's stock worth $131,748,000 after buying an additional 32,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline's stock valued at $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,606,555 shares of the airline's stock worth $75,277,000 after purchasing an additional 50,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,619,499 shares of the airline's stock worth $43,840,000 after purchasing an additional 418,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,637,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,025,896. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.09. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $39.53. The stock's 50-day moving average is $29.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.24.

Southwest Airlines 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.