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

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,369 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 14,024 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 19,729 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 61,060 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,459 shares of the airline’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 73.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 98,986 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Nine 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.com, Southwest Airlines presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.3%

LUV stock opened at $39.64 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $55.11. The stock has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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