First Trust Advisors LP Buys 146,559 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 29.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 651,106 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 146,559 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $24,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 100.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,347 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 19,729 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,060 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 73.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $80,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $46.41 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $28.98 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.34 and a 200 day moving average of $44.35.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 44.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Argus lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.55.

About Southwest Airlines

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.