Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 101,403 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 63.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 260,831 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 101,403 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Southwest Airlines worth $8,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 14,221 shares of the airline’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 51.7% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the airline’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.6% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 774,928 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $24,728,000 after purchasing an additional 34,410 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 74.5% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,301 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 14,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,087 shares of the airline’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LUV. Evercore increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $57.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:LUV opened at $54.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $54.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.39, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.00.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.