Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 97,898 shares of the airline’s stock, valued at approximately $5,034,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth $1,538,382,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,872,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at $172,038,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,661,488,000 after buying an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the fourth quarter worth $55,320,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on LUV shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $58.50 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.01.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $40.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.42. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1-year low of $29.26 and a 1-year high of $55.11. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The airline reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.42. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 2.78%.The business had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.17%.

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.