Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Raises Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 43.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,164 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 378,428 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $10,929,000 after acquiring an additional 103,834 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 506,762 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $14,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $83,299,000 after acquiring an additional 23,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 823,779 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $22,506,000 after acquiring an additional 163,544 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 95,911 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 25,268 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.59.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of LUV opened at $25.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.56. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 1.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. On average, 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.