CenterBook Partners LP Takes $373,000 Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,703 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Corsicana & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 81.4% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the airline’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Southwest Airlines from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.14.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV stock opened at $52.10 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $23.82 and a 1-year high of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a PE ratio of 62.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.17.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.02. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.