Q3 2024 EPS Estimates for Southwest Airlines Co. Raised by Seaport Res Ptn (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a report issued on Monday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings per share of $0.55 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.40. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $1.52 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.70 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.85 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.85 EPS.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.38) EPS.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of LUV traded up $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $28.78. The stock had a trading volume of 7,943,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,387,563. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.46. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 91,675.0% during 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 period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 21.4% during 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 39.7% during 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 period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 106.5% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,556,536 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $69,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,361 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth about $44,210,000. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.00%.

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.