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.
Market Information, Holders and Dividends
Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “ECVT”. As of February 23, 2023, there were 35 shareholders of record of our common stock. A substantially greater number of holders of our common stock hold their shares in “street name” through banks, brokers and other financial institutions.
We have not and do not currently intend to pay regular dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. The declaration and payment of any future dividends by our Board of Directors is subject to compliance with the covenants contained in the agreements governing our credit facilities, applicable law and other considerations. See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K for details regarding covenant restrictions on the payment of dividends under our debt agreements.
Stock Performance Graph
The graph below shows the cumulative total shareholder return of our common stock for the period from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2022 as compared to the cumulative total return of the Russell 2000 Total Return Index and the S&P 1500 Specialty Chemicals Index, assuming an investment of $100 made at the respective closing prices on December 31, 2017. The information contained in the graph below is furnished and therefore not to be considered “filed” with the SEC, and is not incorporated by reference into any document that incorporates this Form 10-K by reference.
12/31/2017 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2022
ECVT (formerly PQG) $ 100 $ 90 $ 104 $ 99 $ 88 $ 76
Russell 2000 100 89 112 134 154 122
SP 1500 Spec Chem 100 94 111 129 165 124
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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
2022 Stock Repurchase Program
The following table contains information about purchases of our common stock during the fourth quarter of 2022.
Total Number of
Shares of Common Stock
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced
Plan or Programs Maximum Number
(or Dollar Value) of
Shares of Common Stock
that May Yet Be
Purchased Under the
Plans or Programs
Total Number of
Shares of Common
Stock Purchased (1)
Average Price
Paid per Share of
Common Stock (2)
October 1, 2022—October 31, 2022 — $ — — $376,328
November 1, 2022—November 30, 2022 8,000,000 $ 7.88 — $313,298
December 1, 2022—December 31, 2022 — $ — — $313,298
Total 8,000,000
(1) In April 2022, our Board of Directors approved and announced a new stock repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to $450 million of the Company’s outstanding common stock over the next four years. This program is expected to be funded using cash on hand and cash generated from operations. We primarily expect to conduct the repurchase program through negotiated transactions with the Company’s equity sponsors, as well as through open market repurchases or other means, including through Rule 10b-18 trading plans or through the use of other techniques such as accelerated share repurchases. The actual timing, number and nature of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including stock, price, trading volume, and general business and market conditions. The repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any number of shares in any specific period or at all and may be amended, suspended or discontinued at any time at our discretion.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA imposes a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax for certain large corporations with average annual adjusted financial statement income in excess of $1 billion for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, levies a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022, and provides tax incentives to promote clean energy. Historically the Company has made discretionary share repurchases under its share repurchase programs. Beginning in 2023, these transactions will be subject to the excise tax of the IRA. Based on the Company’s historical net repurchase activity, the excise tax and the other provisions of the IRA are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations or financial position.
During the three months ended December 31, 2022, in connection with a secondary offering of the Company’s common stock in November 2022, the Company repurchased 8,000,000 shares of its common stock sold in the offering from the underwriters at a price of $7.88 per share for a total of $63.0 million. As of December 31, 2022, $313.3 million was available for additional share repurchases under the program.
(2) Excludes brokerage commissions and other costs of execution.
Tax Withholdings
In connection with the vesting of restricted stock awards, restricted stock units and performance stock units, shares of common stock may be delivered to the Company by employees to satisfy withholding tax obligations at the instruction of the employee award holders. These transactions when they occur are accounted for as stock repurchases by the Company, with the shares returned to treasury stock at a cost representing the payment by the Company of the tax obligations on behalf of the employees in lieu of shares for the vesting unit. There were no such transactions during the three months ended December 31, 2022.
ITEM 6. [Reserved]
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