Southwest Airlines (LUV) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) is projected to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post earnings of $0.45 per share and revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter. Persons that wish to register for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $31.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -455.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.02 and its 200 day moving average is $30.36.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -1,028.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

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.