ING Groep NV Grows Position in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 441.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 592,935 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 483,525 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $24,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,038,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,753,183 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $155,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606,255 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,450,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,340,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Argus decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $41.61 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $20.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.93 and a 200 day moving average of $41.84. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52 week low of $28.98 and a 52 week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($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 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.