Versor Investments LP Invests $651,000 in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 20,400 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the airline’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,791 shares of the airline’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.1% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,547 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,050 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Zacks Research raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.92.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 4.9%

LUV stock opened at $51.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.11. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $54.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a PE ratio of 61.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

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.