Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Shares to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share by the airline on Thursday, January 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 17th.

Southwest Airlines has raised its dividend by an average of 0.3% annually over the last three years. Southwest Airlines has a dividend payout ratio of 28.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Southwest Airlines to earn $4.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE:LUV opened at $45.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.47. Southwest Airlines has a 52 week low of $31.15 and a 52 week high of $55.11.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The airline reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 3.34% and a return on equity of 18.05%. The company’s revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co. is a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States and to destinations in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The company also offers air cargo services and operates the Rapid Rewards loyalty program. Founded in 1967 and beginning flight operations in 1971, Southwest grew from a Texas-based carrier into a major U.S. airline. Its headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan, who assumed the role in 2022.