Zacks Research Has Negative Outlook for LUV Q1 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a report issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now forecasts that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.00 for the quarter, down from their prior 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.55.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock opened at $32.79 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -468.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 32.9% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 65,831 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 16,293 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Southwest Airlines by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $7,645,000 after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $609,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Peak Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,963,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,074,534.40. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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 issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -1,028.57%.

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.