Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC cut its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,988 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock worth $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 103,834 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock worth $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,158 shares of the airline’s stock worth $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock worth $22,506,000 after acquiring an additional 163,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 14,826 shares of the airline’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 5,178 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $25.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.58. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $39.53. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.17, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results 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). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.59.

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.