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.
Shares of the Company’s common stock are traded under the symbol “LFUS” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market SM .
Number of Holders
As of February 11, 2022, there were 56 holders of record of the Company’s common stock.
Dividend Policy
The future dividend policy will be determined by the Board of Directors based upon its evaluation of earnings, cash availability, and general business prospects. Currently, there are restrictions on the payment of dividends contained in the Company’s credit agreements that relate to the maintenance of certain financial ratios. However, the Company expects to continue paying cash dividends on a quarterly basis for the foreseeable future.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
There were no sales of unregistered securities by us or affiliates during the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022.
Purchases of Equity Securities
On April 26, 2019, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to 1,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock for the period May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020 ("2019 program"). On April 29, 2020, the Company announced that the Board of Directors authorized a new program to repurchase up to 1,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock for the period May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021 (the "2020 program") to replace its previous expired 2019 program. On April 28, 2021, the Company announced that the Board of Directors authorized a new three-year program to repurchase up to $300 million in the aggregate of shares of the Company’s common stock for the period May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2024 to replace its previous 2020 program.
The Company did not repurchase shares of its common stock during the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022. There are $300 million in the aggregate of shares available for purchase under the new program as of January 1, 2022.
Stock Performance Graph
The following stock performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filings under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.
The following stock performance graph compares the five-year cumulative total return on Littelfuse common stock to the five-year cumulative total returns on the Russell 1000 Index and the Dow Jones Electrical Components and Equipment Industry Group Index. The Company believes that the Russell 1000 Index and the Dow Jones Electrical Components and Equipment Industry Group Index represent a broad market index and peer industry group for total return performance comparison. The stock performance shown on the graph below represents historical stock performance and is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
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12/2016 12/2017 12/2018 12/2019 12/2020 12/2021
Littelfuse, Inc. $ 100 $ 131 $ 115 $ 129 $ 174 $ 217
Russell 1000 100 122 116 152 184 233
Dow Jones US Electrical Components & Equipment 100 127 112 138 167 209
The Dow Jones Electrical Components and Equipment Industry Group Index includes the common stock of A. O. Smith Corp.; AAON, Inc.; American Superconductor Corp.; AMETEK, Inc.; Amphenol Corp.; Arrow Electronics, Inc.; Avnet, Inc.; AVX Corp.; Capstone Turbine Corp.; CTS Corp.; General Cable Corp.; Hubbell Inc. Class B; Jabil Circuit, Inc.; Littelfuse, Inc.; Methode Electronics, Inc.; Plexus Corp.; Powerwave Technologies, Inc.; Regal-Beloit Corp.; Vicor Corp.; and Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.
For Littelfuse, Inc. and all indexes noted above, a $100 investment made on December 31, 2016 and reinvestment of all dividends is assumed. Returns for the Company’s fiscal years presented above are as of the last day of the respective fiscal year which was December 30, 2017, December 29, 2018, December 28, 2019, December 26, 2020, and January 1, 2022 for the fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.
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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.
The information presented below provides selected financial data of the Company during the past five fiscal years and should be read in conjunction with Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations , and Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data , for the respective years presented:
(in thousands, except per share data) 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Net sales $ 2,079,928 $ 1,445,695 $ 1,503,873 $ 1,718,468 $ 1,221,534
Gross profit 771,926 501,172 546,295 653,415 506,533
Operating income 385,642 162,372 192,791 225,049 218,511
Net income 283,806 129,986 139,082 164,565 119,519
Per share of common stock:
Income from continuing operations
- Basic 11.54 5.33 5.66 6.62 5.27
- Diluted 11.38 5.29 5.60 6.52 5.21
Cash dividends paid 2.02 1.92 1.82 1.60 1.40
Cash and cash equivalents 478,473 687,525 531,139 489,733 429,676
Total assets 3,151,704 2,747,593 2,559,898 2,614,306 1,740,102
Short-term debt 25,000 — 10,000 10,000 6,250
Long-term debt, less current portion 611,897 687,034 669,158 684,730 489,361