Modera Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,980 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE LUV opened at $31.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $18.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -443.29, a PEG ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.14.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.