Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 17th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 17th.

Southwest Airlines has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3% annually over the last three years. Southwest Airlines has a dividend payout ratio of 28.8% indicating that 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. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $31.15 and a 12 month high of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.61. The stock has a market cap 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.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The airline reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.09. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 18.05% and a net margin of 3.34%. The business had revenue of $8.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LUV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Southwest Airlines from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Southwest Airlines from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $59.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

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.