Trending NewsTrending NewsNYSE:LUV Southwest Airlines (LUV) Stock Price, News & Analysis $39.49 -1.34 (-3.27%) Closing price 10/16/2026 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$39.58 +0.09 (+0.22%) As of 10/16/2026 08:00 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Stock Analysis Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsInsider TradesNews and TrendsOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort Interest About Southwest Airlines Stock (NYSE:LUV) View Price History Chart DataSkip Price History Chart 1 Day 5 Days 30 Days 90 Days 1 Year Advanced 1 Day 1 Day 5 Days 30 Days 90 Days 1 Year Advanced Show volume Show extended hours Get Southwest Airlines alerts:Sign Up Key Stats Today's Range$39.45▼$41.2550-Day Range$37.69▼$45.5352-Week Range$29.26▼$55.11Volume5.61 million shsAverage Volume6.46 million shsMarket Capitalization$19.32 billionP/E Ratio24.23Dividend Yield1.82%Price Target$47.41Consensus RatingHold 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.AI Generated. May Contain Errors. Read More Southwest Airlines Stock Analysis - MarketRank™See Top-Rated MarketRank™ Stocks93rd Percentile Overall ScoreLUV MarketRank™: 4.64749536178 of 5 starsSouthwest Airlines scored higher than 93% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 147th out of 657 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation. Analyst's Opinion3.7 / 5Analyst RatingHold Consensus RatingSouthwest 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 PotentialSouthwest Airlines has a consensus price target of $47.41, representing about 20.0% upside from its current price of $39.50.Amount of Analyst CoverageSouthwest Airlines has been the subject of 11 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.Read more about Southwest Airlines' stock forecast and price target. Earnings and Valuation3.8 / 5Proj. Earnings Growth62.42% Earnings GrowthEarnings for Southwest Airlines are expected to grow by 62.42% in the coming year, from $2.98 to $4.84 per share.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the MarketThe P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 24.23, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.33.Price to Earnings Ratio vs. SectorThe P/E ratio of Southwest Airlines is 24.23, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 26.60.Price to Earnings Growth RatioSouthwest Airlines has a PEG Ratio of 1.02. PEG Ratios around 1 indicate that a company is correctly valued.Price to Book Value per Share RatioSouthwest Airlines has a P/B Ratio of 2.56. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.Read more about Southwest Airlines' valuation and earnings. Short Interest2.0 / 5Short Interest LevelBearish Percentage of Shares Shorted5.06% of the float of Southwest Airlines has been sold short.Short Interest Ratio / Days to CoverSouthwest Airlines has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.49, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.Change versus previous monthShort interest in Southwest Airlines has recently increased by 11.18%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly. Dividend2.5 / 5Dividend StrengthModerate Dividend YieldSouthwest Airlines pays a meaningful dividend of 1.76%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.Dividend GrowthSouthwest Airlines does not have a long track record of dividend growth.Dividend CoverageThe dividend payout ratio of Southwest Airlines is 44.17%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.Dividend SustainabilityBased on earnings estimates, Southwest Airlines will have a dividend payout ratio of 14.88% next year. This indicates that Southwest Airlines will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.Read more about Southwest Airlines' dividend. News and Social Media2.8 / 5News Sentiment0.42 News SentimentSouthwest Airlines has a news sentiment score of 0.42. 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 news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Industrials companies.News Coverage This WeekMarketBeat has tracked 23 news articles for Southwest Airlines this week, compared to 11 articles on an average week.Search InterestOnly 10 people have searched for LUV on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -50% compared to the previous 30 days.MarketBeat Follows13 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 Ownership0.7 / 5Insider TradingN/A Insider Buying vs. Insider SellingIn the past three months, Southwest Airlines insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.Percentage Held by Insiders0.91% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by insiders.Percentage Held by Institutions80.82% of the stock of Southwest Airlines is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.Read more about Southwest Airlines' insider trading history. Receive LUV Stock News and Ratings via Email Sign-up to receive the latest news and ratings for Southwest Airlines and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. 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LUV Stock News HeadlinesUBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Stock PriceOctober 18 at 2:26 AM | americanbankingnews.comFree Flights Won’t Show Up on a 65-Year-Old’s Pay Stub. That’s Why She’ll Take the Part-Time Job at the Southwest Ticket Counter Over One That Pays $4 More an HourOctober 17 at 4:33 PM | 247wallst.comThe Iran War Isn’t Chaos. It’s Strategy.Two thousand missiles struck Iran. Three days later, Dylan Jovine sat in two private meetings with U.S. Congressmen no cameras, no staff. What he found afterward points to a coordinated Two-Front Economic War already in motion, according to his research at Behind the Markets.October 18 at 1:00 AM | Behind the Markets (Ad)How Loyalty Overhaul At Southwest Airlines (LUV) Has Changed Its Investment StoryOctober 16 at 7:27 PM | finance.yahoo.comSouthwest just updated Rapid Rewards: What to know about the new elite status tiersOctober 16 at 7:27 PM | finance.yahoo.comUBS Adjusts Southwest Airlines Price Target to $52 From $53, Maintains Buy RatingOctober 16 at 2:27 PM | finance.yahoo.comSouthwest Airlines Q3 setup: Guidance faces earnings-revision testOctober 16 at 2:27 PM | msn.comDelta's Guidance Cut Could Spell Trouble for the Airline Industry (LUV)Delta cut its full-year profit guidance on high fuel costs, raising questions about whether United and Southwest will face similar pressure when they report earnings.October 12, 2026 | marketbeat.comSee More Headlines LUV Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions How have LUV shares performed this year? Southwest Airlines' stock was trading at $41.34 at the beginning of 2026. Since then, LUV stock has decreased by 4.5% and is now trading at $39.4950. How were Southwest Airlines' earnings last quarter? Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July, 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Read the conference call transcript. Is Southwest Airlines doing a stock buyback? Southwest Airlines' board authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd 2025, which authorizes the company to repurchase $2,000,000,000 in shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued. Does Southwest Airlines have any subsidiaries? Southwest Airlines subsidiaries include AirTran Airways, Morris Air, TranStar Airlines, AirTran Airways 717 Leasing Corporation, AirTran Airways Inc., AirTran Holdings LLC, Southwest Jet Fuel Co., and Triple Crown Assurance Co.. Who are Southwest Airlines' major shareholders? Southwest Airlines' top institutional shareholders include V Square Quantitative Management LLC. Insiders that own company stock include Elliott Investment Management, Rakesh Gangwal, Linda B Rutherford, Gregg A Saretsky, David P Hess, C David Cush, Sarah Feinberg and Lisa M Atherton. View institutional ownership trends. How do I buy shares of Southwest Airlines? Shares of LUV stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services. What other stocks do shareholders of Southwest Airlines own? Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Southwest Airlines investors own include Delta Air Lines (DAL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Walt Disney (DIS), Boeing (BA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Bank of America (BAC). Company Calendar Last Earnings7/22/2026Record date for 9/24 Dividend9/03/2026Ex-Dividend for 9/24 Dividend9/03/2026Dividend Payable9/24/2026Today10/18/2026Next Earnings (Estimated)10/21/2026Fiscal Year End12/31/2026Get Stock Alerts Health Indicator TradeSmith's Health IndicatorA long-term volatility-based measure designed for securities held 12 months or longer.Green: Strong and healthy uptrend with normal pullbacks.Yellow: Significant pullback but still within expected volatility.Red: Dropped beyond expected volatility; considered unhealthy. Yellow Zone (2m+) 1-Year History Oct 25 Jan 26 Apr 26 Jul 26 Oct 26 LUV's financial health is in the Yellow zone, according to TradeSmith. LUV has been in this zone for over 2 months. Industry, Sector and Symbol Stock ExchangeNYSE SectorIndustrials Industry Passenger Airlines Sub-IndustryPassenger Airlines Current SymbolNYSE:LUV CIK92380 Webwww.southwest.com Phone(214) 792-4000Fax214-792-5015Employees72,790Year Founded1967Price Target and Rating Average Price Target for Southwest Airlines$47.41 High Price Target$65.00 Low Price Target$33.00 Potential Upside/Downside+20.0%Consensus RatingHold Rating Score (0-4)2.23 Research Coverage22 Analysts Profitability EPS (Trailing Twelve Months)$1.63 Trailing P/E Ratio24.23 Forward P/E Ratio13.25 P/E Growth1.02Net Income$441 million Net Margins2.78% Pretax Margin3.54% Return on Equity14.15% Return on Assets3.60% Debt Debt-to-Equity Ratio0.54 Current Ratio0.49 Quick Ratio0.42 Sales & Book Value Annual Sales$30.07 billion Price / Sales0.64 Cash Flow$4.01 per share Price / Cash Flow9.86 Book Value$15.43 per share Price / Book2.56Miscellaneous Outstanding Shares489,208,000Free Float484,756,000Market Cap$19.32 billion OptionableOptionable Beta1.16 Social Links 7 Energy Stocks to Buy and Hold ForeverWith the proliferation of data centers and electric vehicles, the electric grid will only get more strained. 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