Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for LUV Q2 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Southwest Airlines in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, February 13th. Zacks Research analyst S. Goswami now anticipates that the airline will earn $0.80 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.81. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $1.59 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q1 2026 earnings at $0.29 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.81 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.95 EPS.

LUV has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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 reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Stock Performance

Shares of LUV stock opened at $30.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $36.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.71. The company has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its earnings results 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%.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This represents a 4.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,653,945 shares of the airline’s stock worth $2,308,146,000 after purchasing an additional 426,878 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 32,978,869 shares of the airline’s stock worth $1,108,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,152,996 shares of the airline’s stock worth $475,092,000 after acquiring an additional 320,421 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,111,634 shares of the airline’s stock worth $205,476,000 after acquiring an additional 372,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 6,014,828 shares of the airline’s stock worth $202,219,000 after acquiring an additional 2,391,495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

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.