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 Class A common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NNI,” while its Class B common stock is not publicly traded. The number of holders of record of the Company's Class A common stock and Class B common stock as of January 31, 2024 was 1,742 and 69, respectively. The record holders of the Class B common stock are Michael S. Dunlap, Shelby J. Butterfield, various members of the Dunlap and Butterfield families, and various other estate planning trusts established by and/or entities controlled by them. Because many shares of the Company's Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, the Company is unable to estimate the total number of beneficial owners represented by these record holders.
The Company paid quarterly cash dividends on its Class A and Class B common stock during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and in amounts totaling $1.06 per share and $0.98 per share, respectively. The Company plans to continue making comparable regular quarterly dividend payments, subject to future earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other factors.
36
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the change in the cumulative total shareholder return on the Company's Class A common stock to that of the cumulative return of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Financials Index. The graph assumes that the value of an investment in the Company's Class A common stock and each index was $100 on December 31, 2018 and that all dividends, if applicable, were reinvested. The performance shown in the graph represents past performance and should not be considered an indication of future performance.
Company/Index 12/31/2018
12/31/2019
12/31/2020
12/31/2021
12/31/2022
12/31/2023
Nelnet, Inc. $ 100.00 $ 112.64 $ 139.72 $ 193.78 $ 182.08 $ 179.09
S&P 500 100.00 131.49 155.68 200.37 164.08 207.21
S&P 500 Financials 100.00 132.13 129.89 175.40 156.92 175.99
The preceding information under the caption “Performance Graph” shall be deemed to be “furnished” but not “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
37
Stock Repurchases
The following table summarizes the repurchases of Class A common stock during the fourth quarter of 2023 by the Company or any “affiliated purchaser” of the Company, as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain share repurchases included in the table below were made pursuant to a trading plan adopted by the Company in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Period Total number of shares purchased (a) Average price paid per share (b) Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs (c) Maximum number of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs (c)
October 1 - October 31, 2023 2,782 $ 82.62 2,735 4,464,286
November 1 - November 30, 2023 283,112 81.52 283,112 4,181,174
December 1 - December 31, 2023 3,854 86.01 — 4,181,174
Total 289,748 $ 81.59 285,847
(a) The total number of shares includes: (i) shares repurchased pursuant to the stock repurchase program discussed in footnote (c) below; and (ii) shares owned and tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations upon the vesting of restricted shares. Shares purchased pursuant to the applicable stock repurchase program discussed in footnote (c) below consisted of a total of 283,112 shares of Class A common stock purchased in a privately negotiated transaction on November 13, 2023. Shares of Class A common stock tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations included 47 shares and 3,854 shares in October and December 2023, respectively. Unless otherwise indicated, shares owned and tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations were purchased at the closing price of the Company’s shares on the date of vesting.
(b) The average price of shares repurchased excludes excise taxes.
(c) On May 9, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program to repurchase up to a total of five million shares of the Company's Class A common stock during the three-year period ending May 8, 2025.
Equity Compensation Plans
For information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under the Company's equity compensation plans, see Part III, Item 12 of this report.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
38