Seaport Res Ptn Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for LUV

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lifted their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now anticipates that the airline will post earnings of $0.86 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $0.85. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.83 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q2 2025 earnings at $0.91 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $0.34 EPS.

LUV has been the topic of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $32.11 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -458.77, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at $212,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,661 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 40.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,908 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 7,173 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 82.1% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 61,430 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 27,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 8.8% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 82,679 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 6,721 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.