Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The airline reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 2.78% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $8.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LUV traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.85. 9,034,763 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,419,942. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.85. The company has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.16. Southwest Airlines has a 52-week low of $29.26 and a 52-week high of $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LUV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.41.

About Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines Co is a major U.S. passenger airline headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company provides scheduled air transportation for leisure and business travelers, with service connecting cities throughout the United States and selected destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Southwest is known for its predominantly domestic network and point-to-point operating model. In addition to passenger flights, the company offers ancillary services and air cargo transportation.