Southwest Airlines (LUV) Expected to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) will likely be releasing its Q1 2025 earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.17) per share and revenue of $6.47 billion for the quarter.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $24.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.25. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $36.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C. David Cush purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.03 per share, for a total transaction of $150,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,011 shares in the company, valued at $570,900.33. This trade represents a 35.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.88.

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.