Zacks Research Has Negative Forecast for LUV Q1 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, December 17th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now forecasts that the airline will earn $0.01 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.03. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q2 2025 earnings at $0.81 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.40 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.84 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.30 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $33.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -475.43, a PEG ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $36.12.

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

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Transactions at Southwest Airlines

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Highland Peak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $2,963,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,751,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.