Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of LUV FY2024 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) - Zacks Research raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Southwest Airlines in a report released on Tuesday, December 17th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now expects that the airline will post earnings of $0.75 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $0.73. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines' current full-year earnings is $0.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines' Q4 2024 earnings at $0.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.36 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.43 EPS.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share.

LUV has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.0 %

LUV traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.78. 7,319,181 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,033,412. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -468.29, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 689,199 shares of the airline's stock valued at $20,421,000 after buying an additional 21,805 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline's stock valued at $932,894,000 after acquiring an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,057,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline's stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

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.