Elliott Investment Management L.P. Cuts Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Elliott Investment Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 40.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,346,000 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 20,782,500 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines accounts for 5.7% of Elliott Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Elliott Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 6.21% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,140,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LUV. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.6%

LUV opened at $45.36 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.98 and a fifty-two week 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.