Zacks Research Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for LUV

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.00 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast 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.

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

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LUV. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LUV opened at $32.79 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.81 and a 200 day moving average of $29.95. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -468.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

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.