Southwest Airlines (LUV) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Southwest Airlines Co. is a U.S. commercial airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LUV. The company was founded in 1967 and began operating scheduled passenger service in 1971, initially serving cities in Texas before expanding across the United States.

Southwest primarily provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and also offers air cargo services. Its operations are centered on a large Boeing 737 fleet, supporting frequent service between major cities and regional airports. The company also provides travel-related offerings such as its Rapid Rewards loyalty program and Southwest Vacations.

Southwest serves destinations throughout the United States and operates international service to locations in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and other parts of the Americas. Its network and schedule are designed to support both point-to-point travel and connecting itineraries.

Southwest is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Jordan. The company is known for its distinct operating culture, recognizable brand and long-standing focus on value-oriented air travel.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $40.82 to $41.50
• 50-Day Range: $37.69 to $48.93
• 52-Week Range: $29.26 to $55.11
• Volume: 3.80 million shs
• Average Volume: 7.43 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $20.26 billion
• P/E Ratio: 25.33
• Dividend Yield: 1.74%
• Price Target: $47.46
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Southwest Airlines Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Southwest Airlines scored higher than 96% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 58th out of 658 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Southwest Airlines has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.23, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 9 buy ratings, 9 hold ratings, and 4 sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Southwest Airlines has a consensus price target of $47.46, representing about 15.0% upside from its current price of $41.28.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Southwest Airlines has been the subject of 11 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 4.4 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 59.49%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Southwest Airlines are expected to grow by 59.49% in the coming year, from $3.16 to $5.04 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 25.33, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.81.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 25.33, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 26.42.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Southwest Airlines has a PEG Ratio of 0.41. PEG Ratios below 1 indicate that a company could be undervalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Southwest Airlines has a P/B Ratio of 2.68. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.55% of the float of Southwest Airlines has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Southwest Airlines has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.5.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Southwest Airlines has recently decreased by 21.58%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Southwest Airlines pays a meaningful dividend of 1.70%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Southwest Airlines does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Southwest Airlines is 44.17%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Southwest Airlines will have a dividend payout ratio of 14.29% next year. This indicates that Southwest Airlines will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: -0.15

News Sentiment

Southwest Airlines has a news sentiment score of -0.15. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.44 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 32 news articles for Southwest Airlines this week, compared to 11 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 15 people have searched for LUV on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -12% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

13 people have added Southwest Airlines to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 225% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Southwest Airlines insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.91% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

80.82% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/22/2026
• Record date for 9/24 Dividend: 9/03/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/24 Dividend: 9/03/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/24/2026
• Today: 10/08/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/21/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: Passenger Airlines
• Sub-Industry: Passenger Airlines
• Current Symbol: NYSE:LUV
• CIK: 92380
• Web: www.southwest.com
• Phone: (214) 792-4000
• Fax: 214-792-5015
• Employees: 72,790
• Year Founded: 1967

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Southwest Airlines: $47.46
• High Price Target: $65.00
• Low Price Target: $33.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +15.4%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.23
• Research Coverage: 22 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $1.63
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 25.24
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.01
• P/E Growth: 0.41
• Net Income: $441 million
• Net Margins: 2.78%
• Pretax Margin: 3.54%
• Return on Equity: 14.15%
• Return on Assets: 3.60%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.54
• Current Ratio: 0.49
• Quick Ratio: 0.42

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $28.06 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.72
• Cash Flow: $3.88 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.60
• Book Value: $15.43 per share
• Price / Book: 2.66

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 489,210,000
• Free Float: 484,756,000
• Market Cap: $20.11 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.16