32,970 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Acquired by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services acquired 32,970 Southwest Airlines shares valued at approximately $1.7 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 80.82% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with nine Buy, nine Hold and four Sell ratings. Southwest has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.01.
• Southwest exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.94 EPS versus the $0.52 consensus estimate and $8.72 billion in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, equivalent to a 1.9% annualized yield.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 32,970 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $1,695,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 29.6% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,532 shares of the airline's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.1% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,544 shares of the airline's stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the period. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Markowski Investments acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $469,000. Finally, Syon Capital LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 10,074 shares of the airline's stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southwest Airlines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $38.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.66 and a 200-day moving average of $43.28. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business 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%. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.17%.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co is a major U.S. passenger airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Operating under the Southwest Airlines brand, the company provides scheduled air transportation for domestic and international travelers and also offers air cargo services.

Southwest was founded in 1967 and began commercial service in 1971, initially connecting Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The airline expanded its network across the United States and now serves numerous destinations in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and other nearby international markets.

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