Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook of LUV FY2024 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lifted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, December 17th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now expects that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.75 for the year, up from their previous estimate 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.

LUV has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Southwest Airlines in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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 a consensus target price of $31.37.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.78 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.40. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -468.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 21.73 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock worth $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock worth $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Southwest Airlines by 629.5% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the last quarter. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.