Southwest Airlines Company Company Profile (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Company trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "LUV."

Southwest Airlines Company declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share on Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. View Southwest Airlines Company's Dividend History.

Southwest Airlines Company announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Sunday, June 4th 2017, which authorizes the company to buyback $2,000,000,000.00 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July, 27th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. The company earned $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. Southwest Airlines Company had a return on equity of 26.07% and a net margin of 9.63%. The company's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. View Southwest Airlines Company's Earnings History.

Southwest Airlines Company is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Wednesday, October, 25th 2017. View Earnings Estimates for Southwest Airlines Company.

15 analysts have issued 1 year price objectives for Southwest Airlines Company's stock. Their predictions range from $61.00 to $80.00. On average, they expect Southwest Airlines Company's stock price to reach $67.64 in the next twelve months. View Analyst Ratings for Southwest Airlines Company.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Southwest Airlines Company stock:

• 1. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Southwest Airlines gave a bearish outlook for the third quarter of 2017 at the Cowen and Company Global Transportation Conference mainly due to Harvey. The carrier had to cancel multiple flights due to the storm. Consequently, the company trimmed its current- quarter unit revenue view.  Harvey is expected to hurt its third-quarter results. High fuel costs are also a bane. The pessimism surrounding the stock can be gauged from the fact that the current-quarter Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has declined 7.5% over the last 30 days. We are, however, appreciative of the company's efforts to enhance its shareholders‘ wealth through dividends and share buybacks." (9/20/2017)
• 2. Imperial Capital analysts commented, "We are maintaining our Outperform rating on LUV shares. We are raising our one-year price target to $63 from $59 as well as our EPS estimates on higher unit revenues and lower unit costs. Our price target is about 17% above the recent share price. We are raising our FY17 EPS estimate to $4.00 from $3.90, and our FY18 EPS estimate to $5.25 from $5.15. Our new FY17 estimate assumes capacity increases 3.5% versus 3.8% previously, RASM increases 1% versus 0.5% previously, CASM ex-fuel increases 3% versus 4% previously, and jet fuel averages $2.00 per gallon." (1/27/2017)

Southwest Airlines Company saw a increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,354,260 shares, an increase of 58.6% from the August 15th total of 7,161,155 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,527,904 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Some companies that are related to Southwest Airlines Company include Canadian National Railway Company (CNI), FedEx Corporation (FDX), CSX Corporation (CSX), Norfolk Souther Corporation (NSC), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP), American Airlines Group (AAL), Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL), United Continental Holdings (UAL), International Consoltd Airlns Grp SA (ICAGY), ANA Holdings (ALNPY), Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLAKY), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD), C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) and Alaska Air Group (ALK).

Southwest Airlines Company's management team includes the folowing people:

• Gary C. Kelly, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
• Thomas M. Nealon, President
• Ron Ricks, Vice Chairman of the Board
• Tammy Romo, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
• Michael G. Van de Ven, Chief Operating Officer
• Robert E. Jordan, Chief Commercial Officer, Executive Vice President
• Gregory D. Wells, Executive Vice President - Daily Operations
• Kathleen Wayton, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer
• Stan Alexander, Chief Technology Officer, Vice President
• William H. Cunningham Ph.D., Presiding Independent Director

Southwest Airlines Company's stock is owned by a variety of of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (7.96%), Vanguard Group Inc. (6.35%), FMR LLC (5.51%), BlackRock Inc. (5.09%), State Street Corp (3.73%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (1.48%). Company insiders that own Southwest Airlines Company stock include David W Biegler, De Ven Michael G Van, Gary C Kelly, Gregory D Wells, Jeff Lamb, John T Montford, Mark R Shaw, Robert E Jordan, Tammy Romo and William H Dr Cunningham. View Institutional Ownership Trends for Southwest Airlines Company.

Southwest Airlines Company's stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including BlackRock Inc., Egerton Capital UK LLP, AJO LP, Bank of Montreal Can, State Street Corp, Winslow Capital Management LLC, Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Westpac Banking Corp. Company insiders that have sold Southwest Airlines Company stock in the last year include De Ven Michael G Van, Gary C Kelly, Gregory D Wells, Jeff Lamb, John T Montford, Mark R Shaw, Robert E Jordan and Tammy Romo. View Insider Buying and Selling for Southwest Airlines Company.

Southwest Airlines Company's stock was purchased by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Boston Partners, Thrivent Financial For Lutherans, Ameriprise Financial Inc., Wells Fargo & Company MN, Janus Henderson Group PLC, Nomura Holdings Inc., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Mik Capital LLC. Company insiders that have bought Southwest Airlines Company stock in the last two years include De Ven Michael G Van, Gary C Kelly and William H Dr Cunningham. View Insider Buying and Selling for Southwest Airlines Company.

Shares of Southwest Airlines Company can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of Southwest Airlines Company stock can currently be purchased for approximately $54.93.