Southwest Airlines Co. $LUV Shares Acquired by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 415,532 shares of the airline’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,500 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $15,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the airline’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,148 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,063 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,437 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,726 shares of the airline’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $44.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $45.00 to $58.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, HSBC raised Southwest Airlines from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.40 to $36.10 in a report on Friday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.58.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE:LUV opened at $47.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.96. The firm has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.12. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $28.98 and a 52-week high of $55.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued 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. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.13) EPS. Southwest Airlines’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Southwest Airlines has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 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.