CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,953,627 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $62,340,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 43.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after purchasing an additional 3,753,183 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $389,879,000 after buying an additional 1,459,235 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.9% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 10,763,935 shares of the airline’s stock worth $349,182,000 after purchasing an additional 98,290 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $328,305,000 after buying an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after acquiring an additional 577,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Southwest Airlines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broader sector strength: Delta and American raised revenue guidance and airlines rallied as demand appears to outweigh the fuel spike — a positive spillover for Southwest given industry-wide pricing power and capacity recovery. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: UBS retains a “buy” rating on LUV with a $59 price target (lowered), signaling analyst conviction that the shares have significant upside despite fuel pressure. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary available — Southwest presented at the JPMorgan Industrials Conference; transcript may provide detail on network, costs and fuel hedging that investors will parse for near-term guidance credibility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS and other firms cut estimates and price targets across U.S. airlines citing “significant uncertainty” around jet fuel — this is a sector headwind but also frames a potential valuation bottom for long-term investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry lobbying and operational risks: airline CEOs urged Congress to resolve a shutdown risk that could disrupt travel demand during a peak period; outcome affects near-term traffic. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut its price target on LUV to $44 and moved to “equal weight,” signaling reduced upside from that shop and adding selling pressure from some institutional investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Network change: Southwest will stop serving Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles starting June 4 — could lower revenue from those markets and raises questions about capacity redeployment and unit revenue impact. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Customer backlash: longtime flyers are publicly criticizing changes to A-List benefits, a reputational issue that can affect loyalty and ancillary revenue trends if not addressed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades/estimates: Zacks issued a negative earnings estimate for LUV, adding to the chorus of downward revisions that could pressure near-term sentiment. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $57.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.29.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:LUV opened at $41.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.92, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $55.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.60 and a 200-day moving average of $38.84.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 85.71%.

Southwest Airlines 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.