Southwest Airlines (LUV) Set to Announce Earnings on Thursday

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) will post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post earnings of ($0.05) per share for the quarter. Individual interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The airline reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.25. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.38) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Southwest Airlines to post $1 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Southwest Airlines stock opened at $29.46 on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines has a 12-month low of $21.91 and a 12-month high of $39.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 96.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LUV shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

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.