17,912 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Bought by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 17,912 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Corsicana & Co. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 81.4% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.63.

Key Stories Impacting Southwest Airlines

Here are the key news stories impacting Southwest Airlines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company set FY‑2026 adjusted EPS guidance of at least $4.00 (more than 300% above 2025), signaling a large profit ramp driven by its business transformation; management says momentum in bookings supports the outlook. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: End of open seating and introduction of assigned seats plus new ancillary fees (bags, seat selection, extra legroom) are expected to materially boost unit revenues and margins — investors see this as a sustainable revenue lever. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS modestly beat estimates (EPS topped consensus) and operating profit improved YoY, which together with the guidance reduced near‑term execution concerns for many investors. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue in the quarter trailed some expectations (mixed top‑line vs. estimates), so upside rests on management executing the revenue initiatives and sustaining rate trends. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are re‑rating and updating targets: some price targets were raised while ratings remain mixed — consensus targets still show dispersion, suggesting investor opinion is split on valuation vs. execution risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 2026 EPS guidance (0.45) came in below some street estimates, creating a near‑term execution risk window even as full‑year guidance is strong. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed heavy put buying around the report, indicating some traders hedged or bet on downside volatility despite the upbeat guidance. (No single article link available)

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 18.5%

LUV stock opened at $48.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.82 and a 52-week high of $49.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 1.57%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.77%.

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.