Southwest Airlines (LUV) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, October 24th. Analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post earnings of ($0.24) per share for the quarter. Persons interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly 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. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The business had revenue of $7.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $1 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 0.2 %

LUV stock opened at $30.50 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 234.63, a PEG ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.09.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 553.89%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In related news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares in the company, valued at $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LUV. BNP Paribas raised shares of Southwest Airlines to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (down previously from $32.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $28.25 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

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.