Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 629.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.27% of Southwest Airlines worth $45,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,790,654 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $311,634,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,223,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $28.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Melius reissued a “sell” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, June 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.38.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $29.04 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $35.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.99.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

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.