J. Goldman & Co LP Invests $6.88 Million in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

J. Goldman & Co LP acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 133,900 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $6,885,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,509,179,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,626,853 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth about $1,538,382,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after buying an additional 577,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $257,423,000 after buying an additional 244,891 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of LUV stock opened at $40.87 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.04 and its 200-day moving average is $44.33. The stock has a market cap of $19.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued 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 payout ratio 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.