Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 1,375,000 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 80.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,947 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 1,375,000 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Southwest Airlines worth $10,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 7.1% during the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 4,690 shares of the airline’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 16,301 shares of the airline’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,050 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $33.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.08 billion, a PE ratio of 50.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.82 and a 1 year high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.25.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Southwest Airlines announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised Southwest Airlines to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.38.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.