Edgestream Partners L.P. Grows Stake in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168,858 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 14,741 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $6,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $2,189,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,403,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.7% during 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. Kercheville Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 111.7% during the fourth quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 129,524 shares of the airline’s stock worth $5,497,000 after buying an additional 68,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 250.1% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 39,437 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LUV. Raymond James Financial boosted 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $45.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $28.98 and a 1 year high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

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.