Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ASIX”. On February 3, 2023, there were 17,673 holders of record of our common stock and the closing price of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was $43.86 per share.
As of February 3, 2023, 27,433,810 shares of our common stock and 0 shares of our preferred stock were outstanding.
On May 4, 2018, the Company announced that the Board of Directors (the "Board") authorized a share repurchase program of up to $75 million of the Company’s common stock. On February 22, 2019, the Company announced that the Board authorized a share repurchase program of up to an additional $75 million of the Company's common stock, which was in addition to the remaining capacity available under the May 2018 share repurchase program. On February 17, 2023, the Company announced that the Board authorized a share repurchase program of up to an additional $75 million of the Company's common stock, which was in addition to the remaining capacity available under the previously approved share repurchase program. Repurchases may be made, from time to time, on the open market, including through the use of trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act. The size and timing of these repurchases will depend on pricing, market and economic conditions, legal and contractual requirements and other factors. The share repurchase program has no expiration date and may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time.
The below table sets forth the repurchases of Company common stock, by month, for the quarter ended December 31, 2022:
Period Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid per Share Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plan Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plan
October 2022 155,500 $ 33.50 155,500 $ 33,394,158
November 2022
111,403 38.07 111,403 29,153,293
December 2022 17,298 40.56 17,298 $ 28,451,601
Total 284,201 $ 35.72 284,201
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had repurchased a total of 4,531,073 shares of common stock, including 592,976 shares withheld to cover tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of equity awards, for an aggregate of $136.1 million at a weighted average market price of $30.04 per share.
During the period January 1, 2023 through February 3, 2023, the Company repurchased an additional 12,710 shares at a weighted average market price of $39.96 per share under the current authorized repurchase program.
Dividends
The Company commenced the declaration of dividends on September 28, 2021.
Since commencement of dividends, the Company has declared dividends as follows:
Date of Announcement Date of Record Date Payable Dividend per Share Total Approximate Dividend Amount ($M)
2/17/2023 3/3/2023 3/17/2023 $0.145 $4.0
11/4/2022 11/15/2022 11/29/2022 $0.145 $4.0
8/5/2022 8/16/2022 8/30/2022 $0.145 $4.1
5/6/2022 5/17/2022 5/31/2022 $0.125 $3.5
2/18/2022 3/1/2022 3/15/2022 $0.125 $3.5
9/28/2021 11/9/2021 11/23/2021 $0.125 $3.5
The timing, declaration, amount and payment of future dividends to stockholders, if any, will be within the discretion of our Board. Holders of shares of our common stock will be entitled to receive dividends when, and if, declared by our Board at its discretion out of funds legally available for that purpose, subject to the terms of our indebtedness, the preferential rights of any preferred stock that may be outstanding, legal requirements, regulatory constraints, industry practice and other factors that our Board deems relevant.
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The Company paid dividends of approximately $15.1 million and $3.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, with no dividends declared during 2020.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on the Company’s common stock to the total returns on the Standard & Poor’s ("S&P") Small Cap 600 Stock Index and the S&P Small Cap 600 Materials Index. The changes for the periods shown in the graph assume that $100 had been invested in AdvanSix stock and each index on December 31, 2017, and that all dividends, if any, were reinvested. The share price performance in the graph is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.
COMPARISON OF CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN
December 31, 2017 December 31, 2018 December 31, 2019 December 31, 2020 December 31, 2021 December 31, 2022
AdvanSix Inc.
100 58 47 48 113 92
S&P Small Cap 600
100 92 112 125 159 133
S&P Small Cap 600 Materials
100 78 94 115 136 128
Item 6. [Reserved]