Dorsey Wright & Associates Takes Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 92,052 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $3,458,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,148 shares of the airline’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,063 shares of the airline’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,437 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,726 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LUV. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.58.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $48.09 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $28.98 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.09.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for 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 was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 46.45%.

Southwest Airlines 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.