National Bank of Canada FI Increases Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1,327.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,840,529 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,641,564 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.47% of Southwest Airlines worth $95,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,135 shares of the airline’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.32.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director C. David Cush acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of LUV stock opened at $31.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.62. The stock has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

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.