Nuance Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 845,019 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 845,019 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $24,404,000. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Southwest Airlines as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 26,568 shares of the airline's stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 11.2% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 11,540 shares of the airline's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 30,744 shares of the airline's stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 7,009 shares during the period. Finally, Abundance Wealth Counselors acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter valued at $649,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.24.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.36. 6,445,906 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,267,638. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.67. The company has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.43, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. Southwest Airlines's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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