4,162,540 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,162,540 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $172,038,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,916,003 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $61,140,000 after acquiring an additional 214,092 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $155,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,606,255 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,968,000. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,189,000. Finally, Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,403,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Friday, March 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $54.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.21.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.9%

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.79. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $28.98 and a 1-year high of $55.11.

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

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.45%.

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.