Seaport Res Ptn Issues Negative Forecast for LUV Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Southwest Airlines in a report released on Thursday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.65. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines' current full-year earnings is $1.55 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Melius Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Melius raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.54.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.6 %

Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.65. The company had a trading volume of 14,989,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,918,384. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. Southwest Airlines's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth about $3,482,000. Sfmg LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter worth about $1,057,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock worth $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline's stock worth $20,421,000 after acquiring an additional 21,805 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.