Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Estimate for LUV Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.00 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.01. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ FY2025 earnings at $1.39 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.42 EPS.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.79 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.93. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -468.43, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $7,645,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,963,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

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.