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
Our common stock, with no par value, has traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “NEU” since June 21, 2004 when we became the parent holding company of Ethyl, Afton, NewMarket Services, NewMarket Development, and their subsidiaries. We had 1,926 shareholders of r ecord at January 31, 2022.
On December 13, 2018, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing management to repurchase up to $500 million of NewMarket's outstanding common stock effective January 1, 2019 until December 31, 2021, as market conditions warrant and covenants under our existing debt agreements permit. We may conduct the share repurchase in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, through block trades or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The repurchase program does not require NewMarket to acquire any specific number of shares and may be terminated or suspended at any time. Approximately $220 million remained available under this authorization on October 28, 2021.
On October 28, 2021, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing management to repurchase up to $500 million of NewMarket's outstanding common stock until December 31, 2024, as market conditions warrant and covenants under our existing debt agreements permit. The 2021 authorization replaced the 2018 authorization. We may conduct the share repurchases in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, through block trades, or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The repurchase program does not require the Company to acquire any specific number of shares and may be terminated or suspended at any time. At December 31, 2021 , approximately $482 million remained available under the 2021 authorization.
The following table outlines the purchases during the fourth quarter of 2021 under these authorizations.
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 Plans or Programs Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
October 1 to October 31 231,754 $ 356.37 231,754 $ 495,984,972
November 1 to November 30 5,055 333.44 5,055 494,299,408
December 1 to December 31 37,470 333.20 37,470 481,814,587
Total 274,279 $ 352.78 274,279 $ 481,814,587
Cash dividends declared and paid totaled $8.00 per share for the year ended December 31, 2021 and $7.60 per share for the year ended December 31, 2020. The declaration and payment of dividends is subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. Future dividends will depend on various factors, including our financial condition, earnings, cash requirements, legal requirements, restrictions in agreements governing our outstanding indebtedness, and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.
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The performance graph showing the five-year cumulative total return on our common stock as compared to chemical companies in the S&P 1500 Specialty Chemicals Index and the S&P 500 is shown below. The graph assumes $100 invested on the last day of December 2016, and the reinvestment of all dividends. The graph is based on historical data, and is not intended to be a forecast or indication of future pe rform ance of our common stock.
Performance Graph
Comparison of Five-Year Cumulative Total Return
Performance Through December 31, 2021
December 31,
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
NewMarket Corporation $ 100.00 $ 95.31 $ 100.58 $ 120.71 $ 100.82 $ 88.80
S&P 1500 Specialty Chemicals Index 100.00 127.49 108.99 125.42 147.63 186.91
S&P 500 100.00 121.83 116.49 153.17 181.35 233.41
The graph and table above are not deemed “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor are they incorporated by reference into other filings made by us with the SEC.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
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