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
Market Information
Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “UTI.”
The closing price of our common stock as reported by the NYSE on November 30, 2021 was $8.40 per share. As of November 30, 2021, there were 25 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
On June 9, 2016, our board of directors voted to eliminate the quarterly cash dividend on our common stock. Any future common stock dividends require the approval of a majority of the voting power of the Series A Preferred Stock.
We continuously evaluate our cash position in light of growth opportunities, operating results and general market conditions.
Repurchase of Securities
On December 10, 2020, our Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase plan that would allow for the repurchase of up to $35.0 million of our common stock in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. This new share repurchase plan replaced the previously authorized plan from fiscal 2012. Any repurchases under this new stock repurchase program require the approval of a majority of the voting power of our Series A Preferred Stock. We did not repurchase any shares during the year ended September 30, 2021.
Stock Performance Graph
The following Stock Performance Graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the SEC, nor should such information be incorporated by reference into any future filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference in such filing.
The following performance graph compares the performance of our common stock to the Russell 2000 Index, CRSP NYSE Stock Market (US Companies) Index, our previous peer group as determined by management, and a new peer group established by management based upon changes in our growth and diversification strategy. The companies comprising the old and new peer groups are summarized in the tables below. We feel that the Russell 2000 Index and the new peer group provides a more meaningful comparison to our common stock’s performance and we intend to compare our performance to these two indices going forward.
The graph below compares our annual percentage change in cumulative total return on common shares over the past five years with the cumulative total return of companies comprising the Russell 2000 Index, CRSP NYSE Stock Market (US Companies) Index, our previous peer group index and our new peer group index. This presentation assumes that $100 was invested in shares of the relevant issuers on September 30, 2016, and that dividends received were immediately invested in additional shares. The graph plots the value of the initial $100 investment at one-year intervals for the fiscal years shown. The CRSP index has been included with data through 2020 as such data is no longer available.
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CRSP Total Returns Index for: 09/2016 09/2017 09/2018 09/2019 09/2020 09/2021
Universal Technical Institute, Inc. $ 100.00 $ 194.94 $ 149.44 $ 305.62 $ 285.39 $ 379.78
Russell 2000 100.00 120.74 139.14 126.77 127.27 187.94
NYSE Stock Market (US Companies) 100.00 116.49 131.92 136.53 137.11 —
New Peer Group 100.00 156.11 221.72 200.49 151.15 150.63
Old Peer Group 100.00 185.72 244.33 216.35 164.02 173.23
Companies in the New Self-Determined Peer Group:
Adtalem Global Education, Inc. Lincoln Educational Services Corporation
American Public Education, Inc. Perdoceo Education Corporation
Aspen Group, Inc. Strategic Education, Inc.
Companies in the Old Self-Determined Peer Group:
Adtalem Global Education, Inc. Perdoceo Education Corporation
Grand Canyon Education, Inc. Strategic Education, Inc.
Lincoln Educational Services Corporation Zovio, Inc.
Notes:
• The lines represent monthly index levels derived from compounded daily returns that include all dividends.
• The indexes are reweighted daily, using the market capitalization on the previous trading day
• If the monthly interval, based on the fiscal year-end, is not a trading day, the preceding trading day is used.
• The index level for all series was set to $100 on September 30, 2016.
• Russell 2000 Index Data: Copyright Russell Investments. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright 1980-2021.
• NYSE Index Data: Calculated (or Derived) based from CRSP NYSE Stock Market (US Companies), Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP®), Graduate School of Business, The University of Chicago. Copyright 2021. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Prepared by Zacks Investment Research, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
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