Edgestream Partners L.P. Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 69,810 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $2,265,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter valued at $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the first quarter worth about $50,433,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,663,000. Crake Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,738,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:LUV opened at $35.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.72 and a 200 day moving average of $32.64. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $37.96.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. On average, research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

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.