Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 70.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,469 shares of the airline’s stock after buying an additional 10,970 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,661,488,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,853 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock worth $218,175,000 after acquiring an additional 577,326 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline’s stock worth $257,423,000 after acquiring an additional 244,891 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,763,154 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $216,472,000 after purchasing an additional 117,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $172,038,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $46.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $28.98 and a one year high of $55.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. 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. Analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LUV. Citigroup dropped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 5th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.55.

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.