Seaport Res Ptn Issues Pessimistic Outlook for LUV Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued on Tuesday, January 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now anticipates that the airline will earn ($0.20) per share for the quarter, down from their previous 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 data on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS.

LUV has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $29.50 target price (down from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.31.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $32.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.23.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Southwest Airlines by 46.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,082,719 shares of the airline’s stock worth $932,894,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504,201 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $107,359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,946 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake 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 worth $89,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959,857 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,551,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Southwest Airlines in the second quarter valued at approximately $8,478,000. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total value of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

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

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.