Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for LUV

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.90 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.91. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $1.56 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.08.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 42.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.47.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 16,293 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter worth $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third 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 acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $2,963,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.