Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) to Post Q4 2024 Earnings of $0.55 Per Share, Seaport Res Ptn Forecasts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Seaport Res Ptn decreased their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, July 25th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.60. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.62 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ FY2025 earnings at $2.20 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.00 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on LUV. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.50.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $27.04 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.16. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,926 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 17,383 shares of the airline’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 64,743 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,055 shares of the airline’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the airline’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

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.