Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Declares $0.18 Quarterly Dividend

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the airline on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th.

Southwest Airlines has a dividend payout ratio of 29.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Southwest Airlines to earn $2.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.1%.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.50. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $36.12. The company has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 43.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LUV has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.08.

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.