CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,362 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Axiom Advisory LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 57,976 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 51,395 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 42.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,412 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI raised Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:LUV opened at $32.36 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $35.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -462.29, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Profile

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.