Patton Fund Management Inc. Purchases 79,829 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Patton Fund Management Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 1,283.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,047 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,829 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $3,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LUV. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $155,085,000 after buying an additional 3,606,255 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,968,000. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,189,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,403,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at about $1,479,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $52.00 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.37 and its 200-day moving average is $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $28.98 and a 52 week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. HSBC upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.40 to $36.10 in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Nine research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

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.