Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Stock Holdings Trimmed by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,273,083 shares of the airline's stock after selling 662,816 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.28% of Southwest Airlines worth $235,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,189,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,403,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 575,639 shares of the airline's stock worth $23,774,000 after purchasing an additional 31,128 shares during the period. Kercheville Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 111.7% during the 4th quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 129,524 shares of the airline's stock valued at $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 68,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 250.1% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 39,437 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 4.5%

LUV stock opened at $46.99 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.40. The company has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12-month low of $28.98 and a 12-month high of $55.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is currently 44.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LUV. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus decreased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.40 to $36.10 in a report on Friday, April 24th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.55.

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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