Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The airline reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.02), RTT News reports. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $27.03. 16,106,007 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,102,757. The company has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.15. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $21.91 and a 52 week high of $39.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Southwest Airlines’s payout ratio is 114.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Southwest Airlines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.18.

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.