Zacks Research Issues Negative Forecast for LUV Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Southwest Airlines in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will earn $0.00 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate 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 results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LUV. Susquehanna raised their target price on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.8 %

LUV stock opened at $33.14 on Thursday. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.86 and its 200-day moving average is $29.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of -473.43, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is -1,028.57%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LUV. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the airline’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 60.6% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the airline’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the airline’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.