Nordea Investment Management AB Invests $31.97 Million in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 769,203 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $31,968,000. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.15% of Southwest Airlines at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,857 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,791 shares of the airline’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 83,070 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 11.0% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 3,545 shares of the airline’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LUV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $54.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut Southwest Airlines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.25.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $40.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.07. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 47.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a U.S.-based low-cost carrier that operates a point-to-point domestic and near-international airline network. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company primarily flies Boeing 737 aircraft and offers no-frills, single-class service designed to keep fares competitive. Southwest’s operating model emphasizes high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times and an open seating policy, allowing customers to board and select seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King as Air Southwest Company, Southwest began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.