Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Takes $1.72 Million Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 33,369 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 100.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,347 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 19,729 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,060 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 3,141 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,459 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 2,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 47.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 307,602 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $9,979,000 after buying an additional 98,986 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LUV. Citigroup cut their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV opened at $40.71 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.26 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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