Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for Southwest Airlines Co. Decreased by Seaport Res Ptn (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research note issued on Monday, April 8th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.95. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines' current full-year earnings is $1.60 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines' Q3 2024 earnings at $0.40 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.60 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $1.62 EPS.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $6.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.38) earnings per share.

A number of other analysts have also commented on LUV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "inline" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.96. The stock had a trading volume of 10,942,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,413,724. The company has a market capitalization of $16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.42. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,028,745 shares of the airline's stock valued at $2,886,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,767 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,475,988 shares of the airline's stock valued at $1,544,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,444,279 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 39.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,991,802 shares of the airline's stock valued at $715,615,000 after purchasing an additional 6,244,136 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,213,320 shares of the airline's stock valued at $613,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 91,675.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,296,139 shares of the airline's stock valued at $515,021,000 after purchasing an additional 15,279,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.00%.

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.