Engineers Gate Manager LP Has $41.90 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 814,820 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 349,394 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines makes up 0.5% of Engineers Gate Manager LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Engineers Gate Manager LP owned approximately 0.17% of Southwest Airlines worth $41,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LUV. RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,992 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 10.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 140,652 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,232,000 after buying an additional 13,321 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 22.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,339 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.9% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,889 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $289,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $38.68 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $55.11. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.38.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s dividend 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.