SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 2,690,289 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 71.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,062,063 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,690,289 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $39,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,968,000. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,189,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,403,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,304,031 shares of the airline’s stock worth $73,522,000 after acquiring an additional 339,666 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUV. HSBC raised Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.40 to $36.10 in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Southwest Airlines from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.95.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:LUV opened at $49.38 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $28.98 and a one year high of $55.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 2.83%.The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.13) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 46.45%.

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.