Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 54.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,693 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 52,066 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.6% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,916,003 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,140,000 after buying an additional 214,092 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,652,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth $2,010,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 5.4% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 578,088 shares of the airline’s stock worth $18,447,000 after purchasing an additional 29,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $271,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.03.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $47.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $55.11. The firm has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a PE ratio of 56.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.17.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

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.