Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Stock Position Lowered by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 22.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 969,797 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 286,368 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.20% of Southwest Airlines worth $36,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $172,038,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the third 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. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,255 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $143,450,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,661,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,853 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $57.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Evercore increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $52.00 on Friday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $28.98 and a 52-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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average of $43.19. The company has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.