Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The Company’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and is traded under the symbol “LUV.” The following table shows the high and low prices per share of the Company’s common stock, as reported on the NYSE Composite Tape, and the cash dividends per share declared on the Company’s common stock.



Period	Dividend		High		Low
2016
1st Quarter	$	0.07500	$	45.39	$	33.96
2nd Quarter	0.10000		48.00		36.48
3rd Quarter	0.10000		45.00		35.42
4th Quarter	0.10000		51.31		36.91
2015
1st Quarter	$	0.06000	$	47.17	$	38.26
2nd Quarter	0.07500		44.19		33.02
3rd Quarter	0.07500		40.87		31.36
4th Quarter	0.07500		51.34		37.00

The Company currently intends to continue declaring dividends on a quarterly basis for the foreseeable future; however, the Company’s Board of Directors may elect to alter the timing, amount, and payment of dividends on the basis of operational results, financial condition, cash requirements, future prospects, and other factors deemed relevant by the Board. As of February 3, 2017, there were approximately 12,850 holders of record of the Company’s common stock.

Stock Performance Graph

The following Performance Graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on the Company’s common stock over the five-year period ended December 31, 2016, with the cumulative total return during such period of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Stock Index and the NYSE ARCA Airline Index. The comparison assumes $100 was invested on December 31, 2011, in the Company’s common stock and in each of the foregoing indices and assumes reinvestment of dividends. The stock performance shown on the graph below represents historical stock performance and is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

COMPARISON OF FIVE YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN AMONG SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO., S&P 500 INDEX, AND NYSE ARCA AIRLINE INDEX



	12/31/2011		12/31/2012		12/31/2013		12/31/2014		12/31/2015		12/31/2016
Southwest Airlines Co.	$	100	$	120	$	222	$	502	$	514	$	600
S&P 500	$	100	$	116	$	153	$	177	$	176	$	197
NYSE ARCA Airline	$	100	$	138	$	218	$	327	$	277	$	356

Issuer Repurchases



Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities (1)
	(a)	(b)				(c)	(d)
						Total number of	Maximum dollar
						shares purchased	value of shares that
	Total number	Average				as part of publicly	may yet be purchased
	of shares	price paid				announced plans	under the plans
Period	purchased	per share				or programs	or programs
October 1, 2016 through October 31, 2016	1,709,877	$	—	(2	)	1,709,877	$	1,250,000,000
November 1, 2016 through November 30, 2016	—	$	—	(3	)	—	$	950,000,000
December 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016	4,723,420	$	—	(3	)	4,723,420	$	950,000,000
Total	6,433,297					6,433,297


(1)	On May 18, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company’s common stock. Repurchases are made in accordance with applicable securities laws in open market, private, or accelerated repurchase transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions, and may be discontinued at any time.


(2)	Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in third quarter 2016 (the "Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program"), the Company paid $250 million and received an initial delivery of 4,956,384 shares during third quarter 2016, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program based on a price of $37.83 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on July 22, 2016. Final settlement of this Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program occurred in October 2016 and was determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company's common stock during a calculation period completed in October 2016. Upon settlement, the third party financial institution delivered 1,709,877 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company. In total, the average purchase price per share for the 6,666,261 shares repurchased under the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program, upon completion of the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program in October 2016, was $37.5023.

(2)

Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in third quarter 2016 (the "Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program"), the Company paid $250 million and received an initial delivery of 4,956,384 shares during third quarter 2016, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program based on a price of $37.83 per share, which was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on July 22, 2016. Final settlement of this Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program occurred in October 2016 and was determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company's common stock during a calculation period completed in October 2016. Upon settlement, the third party financial institution delivered 1,709,877 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company. In total, the average purchase price per share for the 6,666,261 shares repurchased under the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program, upon completion of the Third Quarter 2016 ASR Program in October 2016, was $37.5023.


(3)	Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in fourth quarter 2016 (the "Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program"), the Company paid $300 million in November 2016 and received an initial delivery of 4,723,420 shares during December 2016, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $47.6350 per share of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange during a calculation period between November 18, 2016 and December 8, 2016. The specific number of shares that the Company ultimately will repurchase under the Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program will be determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company’s common stock during a calculation period to be completed in February 2017. At settlement, under certain circumstances, the third party financial institution may be required to deliver additional shares of common stock to the Company, or under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to deliver shares of its common stock or may elect to make a cash payment to the third party financial institution.

(3)

Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in fourth quarter 2016 (the "Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program"), the Company paid $300 million in November 2016 and received an initial delivery of 4,723,420 shares during December 2016, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $47.6350 per share of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange during a calculation period between November 18, 2016 and December 8, 2016. The specific number of shares that the Company ultimately will repurchase under the Fourth Quarter 2016 ASR Program will be determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company’s common stock during a calculation period to be completed in February 2017. At settlement, under certain circumstances, the third party financial institution may be required to deliver additional shares of common stock to the Company, or under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to deliver shares of its common stock or may elect to make a cash payment to the third party financial institution.

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