nVerses Capital LLC Invests $1.08 Million in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,400 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $1,079,000. Southwest Airlines accounts for 0.5% of nVerses Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $30.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,323,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,388,284. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.03. The company has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.10, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.