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Data last updated: Oct 12, 2026
Snapshot (as of Oct 12, 2026): Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) pays a $0.72 annual dividend ($0.18 quarterly), yielding 1.73% at $41.66/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-09-03. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 1.73%
Annual Dividend: $0.72 per share
Payout Ratio: 45.0%
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-09-03
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Industrials
Years of Dividend History: 45
Southwest Airlines Co. dividend investors are looking at a domestic-focused passenger airline operating 728 Boeing 737 aircraft across 121 destinations in the U.S. and select international markets. LUV currently yields 1.69%, with a trailing annual dividend rate of $0.72 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is September 3, 2026. A beta of 1.12 puts this stock slightly above average market volatility, making it a better fit for growth-and-income investors than pure income seekers.
Southwest Airlines Co. pays out 44.2% of earnings as dividends, a payout ratio classified as moderate (40-60%). That level leaves meaningful room between the dividend and earnings, which limits the immediate pressure on the payout. Southwest Airlines Co. dividend safety faces its most notable risk from the airline industry's exposure to demand swings and cost volatility, both of which can compress earnings quickly and narrow that buffer.
Southwest Airlines Co. dividend history shows a CAGR of 22.7% per year from 2007 to 2025. The per-share dividend grew from $0.018 to $0.72 over that span (2026 is a partial year and excluded from the CAGR calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 276.8% in 2013. The history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, so the growth path has not been linear.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-Year | +3.5% | $0.60 (2018) | $0.72 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +18.7% | $0.13 (2013) | $0.72 (2025) |
LUV fits growth-and-income investors who want dividend expansion from a large domestic airline rather than a high current yield. At 1.69%, the yield is low (below 2%) and sits below the 5-year average of 1.83%, so income alone is not the draw here. The 22.7% annualized growth rate over the 2007-2025 window is the real story, though the history includes at least one meaningful cut, which means that growth has come with interruptions. An investor in Southwest Airlines Co. stock gets exposure to a high-growth dividend trajectory and a moderate payout ratio, but accepts a below-average current yield and airline-sector volatility in exchange.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-03 | $0.1800 |
| 2026-06-11 | $0.1800 |
| 2026-03-12 | $0.1800 |
| 2025-12-26 | $0.1800 |
| 2025-09-03 | $0.1800 |
| 2025-06-18 | $0.1800 |
| 2025-03-12 | $0.1800 |
| 2024-12-26 | $0.1800 |
| 2024-09-04 | $0.1800 |
| 2024-06-18 | $0.1800 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $0.5400 |
| 2025 | $0.7200 |
| 2024 | $0.7200 |
| 2023 | $0.9000 |
| 2020 | $0.1800 |
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