41,418 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Acquired by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 41,418 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $2,130,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,189,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 954.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 127,331 shares of the airline’s stock worth $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 115,251 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 19.3% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 539,612 shares of the airline’s stock worth $27,747,000 after buying an additional 87,146 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 575,639 shares of the airline’s stock worth $23,774,000 after buying an additional 31,128 shares during the period. Finally, Kercheville Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 111.7% in the fourth quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 129,524 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $5,497,000 after buying an additional 68,350 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Nine 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.55.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE:LUV opened at $39.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.56.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.250-4.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.17%.

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.