Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 856,393 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 54,088 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.17% of Southwest Airlines worth $35,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,148 shares of the airline’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,726 shares of the airline’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,268 shares of the airline’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 24,857 shares of the airline’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,791 shares of the airline’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LUV. Citigroup cut their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $54.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Evercore upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.96.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $42.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $28.98 and a 1 year high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

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.