Southwest Airlines (LUV) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.05) per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.38) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Trading Up 2.6 %

LUV opened at $28.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.96 and its 200-day moving average is $28.46. Southwest Airlines has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $39.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LUV shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.0% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,067 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 3.6% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 50,213 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 4.4% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Southwest Airlines by 1.3% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,872 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.