Amundi Buys 437,423 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 42.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,461,344 shares of the airline's stock after purchasing an additional 437,423 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.30% of Southwest Airlines worth $54,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the airline's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,148 shares of the airline's stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,063 shares of the airline's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Nine equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of LUV opened at $44.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Co. has a one year low of $28.98 and a one year high of $55.11. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $46.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.38.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.Southwest Airlines's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors 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 1.6%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is 44.17%.

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.

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