Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 27,943 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 94.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,522 shares of the airline’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,943 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $2,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,661,488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after purchasing an additional 577,326 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline’s stock worth $257,423,000 after buying an additional 244,891 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,763,154 shares of the airline’s stock worth $216,472,000 after buying an additional 117,833 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,038,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $45.59 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.37. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $28.98 and a one year high of $55.11. The stock has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. 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, equities analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 44.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.40 to $36.10 in a report on Friday, April 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.55.

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.