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

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) is expected to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.43 per share and revenue of $6,943,616.73 billion for the quarter. Investors that are interested in registering for the company's conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,102,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,947,453. The company has a market capitalization of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of -458.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.88. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.23.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently -1,028.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $29.50 price objective (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.31.

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.