River Global Investors LLP Purchases 7,440 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

River Global Investors LLP raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,670 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,440 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 106.5% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,556,536 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $69,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,361 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $179,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,468 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth $13,193,000. Provident Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 7,599,210 shares of the airline’s stock worth $219,465,000 after buying an additional 460,480 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 34.9% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,619,499 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $43,840,000 after buying an additional 418,624 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.15. 10,950,392 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,011,715. The company has a market cap of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.56 and its 200 day moving average is $28.59. 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.27) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.