Q1 EPS Forecast for Southwest Airlines Lowered by Analyst

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Seaport Res Ptn cut their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of ($0.20) per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of ($0.15). The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.84 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings at $0.60 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

NYSE LUV opened at $32.12 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of -458.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.25. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $36.12.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the airline’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,116 shares of the airline’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the airline’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the airline’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This 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.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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