Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 6,414.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $89,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after acquiring an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,972,362,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $48,551,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock worth $45,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after buying an additional 1,034,496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price target (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’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 purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $32.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of -465.79, a P/E/G ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.15. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $30.29 and its 200-day moving average is $28.43. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.