Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) to Post Q2 2025 Earnings of $0.65 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 15th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will post earnings of $0.65 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.59. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q2 2026 earnings at $0.73 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Friday, July 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $30.93 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.10, a P/E/G ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. Southwest Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 104,990 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,065,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the airline’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $1,223,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 26.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 100,351 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 20,694 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.