Seaport Res Ptn Brokers Lower Earnings Estimates for LUV

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Monday, March 31st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now anticipates that the airline will post earnings of $0.65 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.85. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $1.55 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings at $1.00 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 10.6 %

Shares of LUV opened at $25.79 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 883 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.