Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Issues Earnings Results

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of LUV traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.23. 13,132,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,055,514. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.80 and a 200-day moving average of $29.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $21.91 and a one year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is presently 114.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $27.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Melius restated a “sell” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.88.

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.