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

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share by the airline on Friday, January 16th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th.

Southwest Airlines has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Southwest Airlines has a payout ratio of 28.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southwest Airlines to earn $2.36 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 30.5%.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $31.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a PE ratio of 49.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.38. Southwest Airlines has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $37.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LUV. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $27,000. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Southwest Airlines during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.