Is Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) A Good Stock To Buy?

Consequently, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Appaloosa Management LP, managed by David Tepper, assembled the largest position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV). Appaloosa Management LP had $62.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group also initiated a $45.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new LUV positions are Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, and Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) but similarly valued. We will take a look at AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE:AFL), Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), O’Reilly Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:ORLY), and Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble LUV’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 33.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1306 million. That figure was $2542 million in LUV’s case. Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) is the least popular one with only 24 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.