Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of LUV FY2024 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, December 17th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now expects that the airline will post earnings of $0.75 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $0.73. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.38 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.36 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.43 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.5 %

LUV stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.95. The stock had a trading volume of 342,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,004,089. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -470.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $36.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.38.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, 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 transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal bought 643,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently 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 company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 23.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 99,407 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,945,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,057,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,482,000. 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.