Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 51.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,531 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 35,055 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $172,038,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,450,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,320,000. Finally, Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd now owns 2,800,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $115,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, HSBC upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.40 to $36.10 in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $44.36 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a twelve month low of $28.98 and a twelve month high of $55.11. The stock has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.250-4.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.750 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

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.