Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The airline reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07, RTT News reports. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 5.92%. The company had revenue of $7.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:LUV traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.23. 13,132,906 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,055,514. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 0.90. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $21.91 and a 12 month high of $35.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.80 and a 200 day moving average of $29.20.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $26.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.54.

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.