Southwest Airlines (LUV) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) is set to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, October 24th. Analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post earnings of ($0.24) per share for the quarter. Individual that wish to register for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.92% and a net margin of 0.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $1 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LUV opened at $30.93 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LUV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

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.