Brokers Set Expectations for Southwest Airlines Co.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Monday, June 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of $0.30 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.50. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.98 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.65 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $1.10 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LUV. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $28.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.83.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE LUV opened at $28.47 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The firm has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.75 and a 200-day moving average of $29.40.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.27) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $592,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 98.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 30,360 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 15,041 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 244.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 115,487 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 81,987 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Southwest Airlines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,189,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 2,607 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Southwest Airlines Company 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.