BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Makes New $9.24 Million Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 223,583 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $9,241,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $393,615,000 after buying an additional 3,753,183 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock worth $389,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459,235 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after purchasing an additional 577,326 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,425,339 shares of the airline’s stock worth $141,213,000 after purchasing an additional 26,608 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $172,038,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.5%

LUV opened at $42.73 on Tuesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.13) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.45%.

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.