Q2 2025 EPS Estimates for Southwest Airlines Co. Boosted by Zacks Research (NYSE:LUV)

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, October 15th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will post earnings of $0.65 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.59. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $0.54 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q2 2026 earnings at $0.73 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV opened at $30.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.41, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.17. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,569,773 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,972,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 61,422,187 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,792,914,000 after buying an additional 7,946,199 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,828,166 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $166,742,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,496 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at $48,551,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 629.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,590,298 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $45,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director Rakesh Gangwal purchased 643,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

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.