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.
Peabody’s Common Stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol “BTU.” As of February 17, 2023 there were 173 holders of the Company’s Common Stock, as determined by counting its record holders and the number of participants reflected in a security position listing provided to the Company by the Depository Trust Company (DTC). Because such DTC participants are brokers and other institutions holding shares of Peabody’s Common Stock on behalf of their customers, the Company does not know the actual number of unique shareholders represented by these record holders.
Dividends
As more fully described within “Liquidity and Capital Resources” of Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” during the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company entered into a transaction support agreement with its surety bond providers which prohibits the payment of dividends through the earlier of December 31, 2025, or the maturity of the Credit Agreement (currently March 31, 2025) unless otherwise agreed to by the parties to the agreements. Additionally, restrictive covenants in its credit facility also limit the Company's ability to pay cash dividends.
Share Relinquishments
The Company routinely allows employees to relinquish Common Stock to pay estimated taxes upon the vesting of restricted stock units and the payout of performance units that are settled in Common Stock under its equity incentive plans. The value of Common Stock tendered by employees is determined based on the closing price of the Company’s Common Stock on the dates of the respective relinquishments.
Share Repurchase Program
On August 1, 2017, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program to allow repurchases of up to $500 million of the then outstanding shares of its common stock and/or preferred stock (Repurchase Program), which was eventually expanded to $1.5 billion during 2018. The Repurchase Program does not have an expiration date and may be discontinued at any time. Through December 31, 2022, the Company has repurchased 41.5 million shares of its Common Stock for $1,340.3 million, which included commissions paid of $0.8 million, leaving $160.5 million available for share repurchase under the Repurchase Program.
Similar to the payment of dividends as described above, the same agreements with the Company’s surety bond providers prohibit share repurchases through the earlier of December 31, 2025, or the maturity of the Credit Agreement (currently March 31, 2025) unless otherwise agreed to by the parties to the agreements. Additionally, restrictive covenants in its credit facility also limit the Company’s ability to repurchase shares. Future repurchases will be made at the Company’s discretion. The specific timing, price and size of purchases will depend upon the share price, general market and economic conditions and other considerations, including compliance with various debt agreements in effect at the time any repurchases are made.
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Issuances of Equity Securities
In June 2021, the Company announced an at-the-market equity offering program pursuant to which the Company could offer and sell up to 12.5 million shares of its Common Stock. The at-the-market equity offering program was further expanded to 32.5 million shares during 2021. The shares are offered and sold pursuant to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 23, 2021, as supplemented by prospectus supplements dated June 4, 2021, September 17, 2021, and December 17, 2021 relating to the offer and sale of the shares. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company sold approximately 24.8 million shares for net cash proceeds of $269.8 million. No sales were made under this at-the-market equity offering program during the year ended December 31, 2022, leaving approximately 7.7 million shares available for sale.
On March 7, 2022, the Company entered into an at-the-market equity offering program pursuant to which the Company could offer and sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate gross sales price of up of $225 million. The shares are offered and sold pursuant to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 23, 2021, as supplemented by a prospectus supplement dated March 7, 2022 relating to the offer and sale of the shares. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company sold approximately 10.1 million shares for net proceeds of $222.0 million, thereby concluding this at-the-market equity offering program.
Also during the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company completed multiple bilateral transactions with holders of the 2022 Notes, the 2025 Notes and the 2024 Peabody Notes in which the Company issued an aggregate 10.0 million shares of its Common Stock in exchange for $37.3 million aggregate principal amount of the 2022 Notes, $47.2 million aggregate principal amount of the 2025 Notes and $21.6 million aggregate principal amount of the 2024 Peabody Notes. No such bilateral transactions were completed during the year ended December 31, 2022. The issuance of shares of common stock in exchange for the 2022 Notes, the 2025 Notes and the 2024 Peabody Notes was made in reliance on the exemption from registration provided in Section 3(a)(9) under the Securities Act of 1933, based in part on representations of holders of the 2022 Notes, the 2025 Notes and the 2024 Peabody Notes, and on the basis that the exchange was completed with existing holders of the Company's securities and no commission or other remuneration was paid or given for soliciting the exchange.
Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table summarizes all share purchases for the three months ended December 31, 2022:
Period Total Number of Shares
Purchased (1)
Average Price Paid per Share Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program Maximum Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Used to Repurchase Shares Under the Publicly Announced Program (In millions)
October 1 through October 31, 2022
— $ — — $ 160.5
November 1 through November 30, 2022
— — — 160.5
December 1 through December 31, 2022
— — — 160.5
Total
— — —
(1) Includes shares withheld to cover the withholding taxes upon the vesting of equity awards, which are not a part of the Repurchase Program Repurchase Program.
Stock Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the cumulative total return on Peabody’s common stock with the cumulative total return of the following indices: (i) the S&P MidCap 400 Stock Index and (ii) Custom Composite Index (a peer group comprised of Arch Resources, Inc., Hallador Energy Co., and Warrior Met Coal, Inc.). The Custom Composite Index reflects publicly listed U.S. companies within the coal industry of similar size or product type. The graph assumes that the value of the investment in BTU and each index was $100 at December 31, 2017. The graph also assumes that all dividends were reinvested and that the investments were held through December 31, 2022. These indices are included for comparative purposes only and do not necessarily reflect management's opinion that such indices are an appropriate measure of the relative performance of the stock involved and are not intended to forecast or be indicative of possible future performance of the common stock.
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Item 6. Reserved.
Not applicable.