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.
The Company’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the trading symbol KWR. The Board declared cash dividends that totaled $1.78 per share of outstanding common stock or $32.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 and $1.70 per share of outstanding common stock or $30.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2022. In February and May 2023, our Board declared quarterly cash dividends of $0.435 per share of outstanding common stock, payable to shareholders of record in April 2023 and July 2023, respectively. Subsequently, our Board declared quarterly dividends of $0.455 per share of outstanding common stock in August and November 2023, respectively, payable to shareholders of record in October 2023 and January 2024, respectively. We currently expect to continue paying comparable cash dividends on a quarterly basis in the future. Future declaration of dividends and the establishment of future record dates and payment dates are subject to the final determination of our Board, and will be based on our future financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, capital expenditure requirements, contractual restrictions, anticipated cash needs, business prospects, provisions of applicable law and other factors our Board may deem relevant.
There are currently no restrictions on the Company’s ability to pay dividends. However, in the event that our net leverage ratio were to rise above 2.5x, certain restrictions would apply. Refer to the description of the Company’s primary Credit Facility in Note 19 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Report for more information about the covenants.
As of January 17, 2024, 17,992,471 shares of Quaker common stock were issued and outstanding and were held by 605 shareholders of record. Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share.
Reference is made to the information in Item 12 of this Report under the caption “Equity Compensation Plans,” which is incorporated herein by this reference.
The following table sets forth information concerning shares of the Company’s common stock acquired by the Company during the fourth quarter of 2023 for the period covered by this report:
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Period (a)
Total Number
of Shares
Purchased (1) (b)
Average
Price Paid
Per Share (2) (c)
Total Number of
Shares Purchased
as part of Publicly
Announced Plans
or Programs (d)
Approximate Dollar
Value of Shares that
May Yet be
Purchased Under the
Plans or Programs (3)
October 1 - October 31, 2023 15,038 $ 189.09 — $ 86,865,026
November 1 - November 30, 2023 30 $ 175.71 — $ 86,865,026
December 1 - December 31, 2023 111 $ 207.55 — $ 86,865,026
Total 15,179 $ 158.68 — $ 86,865,026
(1) During October 2023, 14,618 shares of the Company’s common stock that had been held in an indemnification escrow account established in connection with the Combination were released to the Company in satisfaction of Combination-related indemnification receivables associated with the settlement of certain income tax audits for tax periods prior to August 1, 2019. The Company subsequently retired the shares received from escrow, which did not reduce the total number of authorized shares. The remaining of these shares were acquired from employees related to the surrender of Quaker Chemical Corporation shares in payment of the exercise price of employee stock options exercised or for the payment of taxes upon exercise of employee stock options or the vesting of restricted stock awards or units.
(2) The price paid for shares acquired from employees pursuant to employee benefit and share-based compensation plans is based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of exercise or vesting as specified by the plan pursuant to which the applicable option, restricted stock award, or restricted stock unit was granted.
(3) On May 6, 2015, the Board of the Company approved, and the Company announced, a share repurchase program, pursuant to which the Company is authorized to repurchase up to $100,000,000 of Quaker Chemical Corporation common stock (the “2015 Share Repurchase Program”), and it has no expiration date. There were no shares acquired by the Company pursuant to the 2015 Share Repurchase Program during the quarter ended December 31, 2023. On February 28, 2024, the 2015 Share Repurchase Program was terminated in connection with the Board’s approval of a new share repurchase program. See Note 22 in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in Item 8 of this Report.
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Stock Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total return (assuming reinvestment of dividends) from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023 for (i) Quaker’s common stock, (ii) the S&P MidCap 400 Index (the “MidCap Index”), and (iii) the S&P 400 Materials Group Index (the “Materials Group Index”). The graph assumes the investment of $100 o n December 31, 2018 in each of Quaker’s common stock, the stocks comprising the MidCap Index and the Materials Group Index, respe ctively.
Company / Index 12/31/2018 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2022 12/31/2023
Quaker Chemical Corp. $ 100.00 $ 93.35 $ 145.07 $ 133.00 $ 97.21 $ 125.53
S&P MidCap 400 Index 100.00 126.19 143.43 178.94 155.57 181.14
S&P 400 Materials Group Index 100.00 120.87 133.74 176.84 172.01 200.44
Item 6. Reserved.
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