Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 14,092 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 71.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,920 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,092 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,255 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $31,968,000. North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $2,189,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $1,403,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LUV. Evercore raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.58.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 1.4%

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.51. 4,912,547 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,357,558. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.86. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.98 and a fifty-two week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is 46.45%.

About Southwest Airlines

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.