Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.66 Billion Holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,626,853 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Southwest Airlines worth $1,661,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LUV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $172,038,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,335,167 shares of the airline’s stock worth $393,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,753,183 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,468.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,752,352 shares of the airline’s stock worth $155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,255 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter worth about $143,450,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,340,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. HSBC upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.40 to $36.10 in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $41.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.93 and a 200 day moving average of $41.91. The company has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 12 month low of $28.98 and a 12 month high of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.46 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 46.45%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.