Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) – Seaport Res Ptn upped their Q2 2022 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, July 20th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst D. Mckenzie now forecasts that the airline will post earnings per share of $1.20 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.15. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines’ current full-year earnings is $2.73 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines’ Q3 2022 earnings at $1.10 EPS, Q4 2022 earnings at $0.80 EPS and FY2022 earnings at $2.81 EPS.
Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Southwest Airlines in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James raised Southwest Airlines from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 23rd. Susquehanna Bancshares raised Southwest Airlines from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Southwest Airlines from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $58.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.94.
Southwest Airlines Price Performance
Shares of NYSE LUV opened at $40.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.87. Southwest Airlines has a fifty-two week low of $34.36 and a fifty-two week high of $56.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.86 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.91.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The airline reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.02. Southwest Airlines had a negative return on equity of 4.39% and a net margin of 3.17%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.72) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 128.8% on a year-over-year basis.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southwest Airlines
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $960,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,230 shares of the airline’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 9,548 shares of the airline’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,343 shares of the airline’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regentatlantic Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the fourth quarter worth $248,000. 76.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines
In related news, Director John T. Montford sold 2,300 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $105,110.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,296 shares in the company, valued at $1,064,627.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.
Southwest Airlines Company Profile
Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provide scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated a total fleet of 728 Boeing 737 aircrafts; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as 10 near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.