Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jun 17th, 2026

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.5550.

LUV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $57.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $54.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th.

Read Our Latest Analysis on LUV

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $48.21 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $28.98 and a twelve month high of $55.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.46.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The airline reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm 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 revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,200,530 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,661,488,000 after buying an additional 2,626,853 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 43.7% during the third 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline’s stock worth $389,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459,235 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,837,197 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $218,175,000 after acquiring an additional 577,326 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,228,475 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $257,423,000 after purchasing an additional 244,891 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.