Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR INDEPENDENT BANK CORP.'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
(a.) Independent Bank Corp.’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol INDB. The Company declared aggregate cash dividends of $2.08 and $1.92 per share in 2022 and in 2021, respectively. The ratio of dividends paid to earnings in 2022 and 2021 was 35.53% and 51.85%, respectively.
Payment of dividends by the Company on its common stock is subject to various regulatory restrictions and guidelines. Since substantially all of the funds available for the payment of dividends are derived from the Bank, future dividends will depend on the earnings of the Bank, its financial condition, its need for funds, applicable governmental policies and regulations, and other such matters as the Board of Directors deems appropriate. Management believes that the Bank will continue to generate adequate earnings to continue to pay comparable common dividends on a quarterly basis.
As of February 24, 2023, there were 45,064,851 shares of common stock outstanding which were held by approximately 4,196 holders of record. The number of record-holders may not reflect the number of persons or entities holding stock in
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nominee name through banks, brokerage firms, and other nominees. The closing price of the Company’s common stock on December 30, 2022, the last trading day of the year, wa s $84.43.
Comparative Stock Performance Graph
The stock performance graph below and associated table compare the cumulative total shareholder return of the Company’s common stock from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2022 to the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ Composite Index (U.S. Companies) and the KBW NASDAQ Bank Index. The lines in the graph and the numbers in the table below represent yearly index levels derived from compounded daily returns that include reinvestment or retention of all dividends. If the yearly interval, based on the last day of a fiscal year, was not a trading day, the preceding trading day was used. The index value for all of the series was set to 100.00 on December 31, 2017 (which assumes that $100.00 was invested in each of the series on December 31, 2017).
The following information in this Item 5 of this Report is not deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Exchange Act or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such a filing. The stock price performance shown on the stock performance graph and associated table below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance. Information used in the graph and table was obtained from a third party provider, a source believed to be reliable, but the Company is not responsible for any errors or omissions in such information.
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The following chart depicts the total return performance of the Company:
(b.) Not applicable
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(c.) The following table sets forth information regarding the Company’s repurchases of its common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2022:
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Period Total Number of
Shares
Purchased Average Price
Paid Per Share Total Number of
Shares Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced Plan or
Program Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares
That May Yet Be Purchased
Under the Plan or Program
October 1 to October 31, 2022 — $ — — $ 120,000,000
November 1 to November 30, 2022 — — — $ 120,000,000
December 1 to December 31, 2022 — — — $ 120,000,000
Total — $ — — $ 120,000,000
On October 20, 2022, the Company announced the commencement of a new share repurchase program which authorizes repurchases by the Company of up to $120 million in common stock. Repurchases under the new program may be made from time to time on the open market and in privately negotiated transactions, including through the use of trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. The extent to which the Company repurchases shares and the size and timing of these repurchases will depend on a variety of factors, including pricing, market and economic conditions, the Company’s capital position and amount of retained earnings and legal and contractual requirements. The repurchase program is scheduled to expire October 19, 2023 and may be modified, suspended or discontinued without prior notice at any time.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.