Seaport Res Ptn Issues Pessimistic Outlook for LUV Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Southwest Airlines in a report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings of ($0.20) per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of ($0.15). The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.84 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q4 2025 earnings at $0.60 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share.

LUV has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

LUV opened at $32.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.03 and its 200-day moving average is $30.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $23.58 and a twelve month high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total transaction of $132,405.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 59,912,580 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This represents a 1.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 46.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 608.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,623,333 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $107,359,000 after buying an additional 3,111,946 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,377,660 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $100,080,000 after buying an additional 46,110 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6,414.5% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,006,000 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $89,068,000 after buying an additional 2,959,857 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 2,190,255 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $73,636,000 after buying an additional 133,366 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.