Southwest Airlines Hikes Quarterly Dividend By 33%; To Buy Back $2 Bln Of Shares

(RTTNews) - Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said that its board increased the Company's quarterly dividend by 33 percent and authorized a new $2 billion share repurchase program.

Under the new $2 billion share repurchase authorization, the Company intends to repurchase an initial $500 million of Southwest common stock under an accelerated share repurchase program. The quarterly dividend will increase to $0.10 per share from $0.075 per share, beginning with the 159th consecutive quarterly dividend declared today to Shareholders of record at the close of business on June 8, 2016, on all shares then issued and outstanding. The dividend will be paid on June 29, 2016.

The company noted that it recently completed its previous total $1.5 billion share repurchase authorization, including $700 million repurchased this year under accelerated share repurchase programs. The Company repurchased $500 million in common stock pursuant to an accelerated share repurchase program launched during first quarter 2016, and $200 million pursuant to an accelerated share repurchase program launched during second quarter 2016, receiving approximately 11.9 million and approximately 4.5 million total shares, respectively. Under the total $1.5 billion share repurchase authorization, the Company repurchased approximately 37.3 million shares.