8,261 Shares in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Acquired by Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS

Key Points

• Caliber Wealth Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines, purchasing 8,261 shares valued at approximately $277,000.
• Southwest Airlines recently announced a share buyback plan to reacquire up to **$2.00 billion** in shares, signaling that company leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
• The airline's most recent earnings report showed a **$0.43 EPS**, missing analyst estimates of $0.51, with a revenue of **$7.24 billion** for the quarter.

Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,261 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3,538.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 326,129 shares of the airline's stock valued at $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 317,166 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 10.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,625 shares of the airline's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,691 shares of the airline's stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 11,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 69,413 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,637,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,037,422. The firm has a market cap of $16.22 billion, a PE ratio of 46.82, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $37.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.50 and a 200 day moving average of $31.32.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The airline reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.08). Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 6.27% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $7.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Southwest Airlines's payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LUV. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.75.

About Southwest Airlines

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.