Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases New Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter, purchasing 192,138 shares valued at about $7.94 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 80.82% of Southwest Airlines shares held by institutional investors, and several other hedge funds also increased their positions recently.
• Southwest Airlines posted Q1 EPS of $0.45, matching estimates, though revenue of $7.25 billion came in below expectations; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 192,138 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $7,941,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 100.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,347 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 19,729 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.6% during the first 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Weiss Ratings lowered Southwest Airlines from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Argus dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.7%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $45.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $28.98 and a 12 month high of $55.11. The company has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued 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 is Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.45%.

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.

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