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 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 January 30, 2020, there were approximately 11,920 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, 2019, 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, 2014, 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



	12/31/2014		12/31/2015		12/31/2016		12/31/2017		12/31/2018		12/31/2019
Southwest Airlines Co.	$	100	$	102	$	120	$	158	$	114	$	134
S&P 500	$	100	$	101	$	113	$	138	$	132	$	174
NYSE ARCA Airline	$	100	$	85	$	109	$	116	$	91	$	112

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, 2019 through October 31, 2019	2,019,792	$	—	(2)	2,019,792	$	1,900,051,674
November 1, 2019 through November 30, 2019	—	$	—	(3)	—	$	1,350,051,674
December 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019	7,276,275	$	—	(3)	7,276,275	$	1,350,051,674
Total	9,296,067				9,296,067


(1)	On May 16, 2018, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company's common stock. On May 15, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company’s common stock in a new share repurchase authorization, upon the completion of the May 2018 share repurchase authorization. Repurchases are made in accordance with applicable securities laws in open market or private, including accelerated, repurchase transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions, and may be discontinued at any time.

(1)

On May 16, 2018, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company's common stock. On May 15, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2.0 billion of the Company’s common stock in a new share repurchase authorization, upon the completion of the May 2018 share repurchase authorization. Repurchases are made in accordance with applicable securities laws in open market or private, including 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 2019 (the “Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program”), the Company paid $500 million and received an initial delivery of 7,471,534 shares during August 2019, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $50.1905 per share of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE during a calculation period between July 30, 2019 and August 20, 2019. Final settlement of the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program occurred in October 2019 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 2019. Upon settlement, the third party financial institution delivered 2,019,792 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company. In total, the average purchase price per share for the 9,491,326 shares repurchased under the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program, upon completion of the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program in October 2019, was $52.6797.

(2)

Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in third quarter 2019 (the “Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program”), the Company paid $500 million and received an initial delivery of 7,471,534 shares during August 2019, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $50.1905 per share of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE during a calculation period between July 30, 2019 and August 20, 2019. Final settlement of the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program occurred in October 2019 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 2019. Upon settlement, the third party financial institution delivered 2,019,792 additional shares of the Company’s common stock to the Company. In total, the average purchase price per share for the 9,491,326 shares repurchased under the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program, upon completion of the Third Quarter 2019 ASR Program in October 2019, was $52.6797.


(3)	Under an accelerated share repurchase program entered into by the Company with a third party financial institution in fourth quarter 2019 (the "Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program"), the Company paid $550 million and received an initial delivery of 7,276,275 shares during December 2019, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $56.6911 per share of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE during a calculation period between November 13, 2019 and December 11, 2019. The third party financial institution delivered an additional 1,835,017 shares to the Company in further partial settlements of the Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program in January 2020, which was determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company's common stock during calculation periods completed in January 2020. The specific number of shares that the Company ultimately will repurchase under the Fourth Quarter 2019 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 no later than February 13, 2020. 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 2019 (the "Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program"), the Company paid $550 million and received an initial delivery of 7,276,275 shares during December 2019, representing an estimated 75 percent of the shares to be purchased by the Company under the Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program based on a volume-weighted average price of $56.6911 per share of the Company’s common stock on the NYSE during a calculation period between November 13, 2019 and December 11, 2019. The third party financial institution delivered an additional 1,835,017 shares to the Company in further partial settlements of the Fourth Quarter 2019 ASR Program in January 2020, which was determined based generally on a discount to the volume-weighted average price per share of the Company's common stock during calculation periods completed in January 2020. The specific number of shares that the Company ultimately will repurchase under the Fourth Quarter 2019 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 no later than February 13, 2020. 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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