Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02), RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 9.40% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 7.9 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $2.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.99. The stock had a trading volume of 17,051,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,430,987. Southwest Airlines has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $39.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.54.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is currently 96.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LUV. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “inline” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.82.

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.