Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $54.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.75, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.80 and a 200-day moving average of $39.36. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.82 and a 12-month high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.02. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.18% and a net margin of 1.57%.The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000- EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.450- EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.71%.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock worth $389,879,000 after buying an additional 1,459,235 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline’s stock worth $328,305,000 after buying an additional 9,716,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $218,175,000 after acquiring an additional 577,326 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.