Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Buys New Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec initiated a 33,600-share position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.73 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.82% of the company.
• Southwest reported quarterly EPS of $0.94, surpassing the $0.52 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.4% year over year to $8.72 billion. The company maintained FY 2026 EPS guidance of $3.25–$4.25.
• The airline declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%. Despite several bullish analyst targets, Southwest carries a consensus “Hold” rating with a $49.01 price target.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,600 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $1,728,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,509,179,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $1,538,382,000. Invesco Ltd. increased 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 buying an additional 577,326 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline's stock worth $257,423,000 after buying an additional 244,891 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV opened at $39.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $29.26 and a 12-month high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is presently 44.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.01.

About Southwest Airlines

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.

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