Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys New Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 900,590 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $46,295,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LUV. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth $2,509,179,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $1,538,382,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $218,175,000 after buying an additional 577,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $257,423,000 after buying an additional 244,891 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $40.70 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.25. The stock has a market cap of $19.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s 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 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 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.