Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Stock Position Decreased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,040,835 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 5,121,198 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,947,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $328,305,000 after buying an additional 9,716,160 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock worth $389,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459,235 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,663,000. Crake Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,738,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 315.3% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,247,837 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $40,480,000 after acquiring an additional 947,346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 5.0%

NYSE:LUV opened at $52.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $25.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.96. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 6.18%. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $57.50 in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.14.

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.