Q1 EPS Forecast for Southwest Airlines Decreased by Analyst

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now expects that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.00 for the quarter, down from their prior 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.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.79 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of -468.43, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Southwest Airlines’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.