Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information.
The Company’s common stock is currently
listed on NASDAQ under the trading symbol “WNEB.” As of December 31, 2023, there were 21,666,807 shares of the Company’s
common stock outstanding by approximately 1,921 shareholders, as obtained through our transfer agent. Such number of shareholders
does not reflect the number of persons or entities holding stock in nominee name through banks, brokerage firms and other nominees.
Dividend Policy.
The Company maintains a dividend reinvestment
and direct stock purchase plan (the "DRSPP"). The DRSPP enables stockholders, at their discretion, to continue to elect
to reinvest cash dividends paid on their shares of the Company’s common stock by purchasing additional shares of common stock
from the Company at a purchase price equal to fair market value. Under the DRSPP, stockholders and new investors also have the
opportunity to purchase shares of the Company's common stock without brokerage fees, subject to monthly minimums and maximums.
Although the Company has historically paid
quarterly dividends on its common stock, the Company’s ability to pay such dividends depends on a number of factors, including
restrictions under federal laws and regulations on the Company’s ability to pay dividends, and as a result, there can be
no assurance that dividends will be paid in the future.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.
There were no sales by the Company of unregistered
securities during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
and Affiliated Purchasers.
The following table sets forth information
with respect to purchases made by the Company during the three months ended December 31, 2023.
Period
Total Number
of Shares
Purchased
Average Price
Paid per
Share
($)
Total Number of
Shares Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced
Programs
Maximum Number
of Shares that May
Yet Be Purchased
Under the Program
(1)
October 1 - 31, 2023
228,427
7.08
228,427
423,012
November 1 - 30, 2023
16,412
7.31
16,412
406,600
December 1 - 31, 2023 (2)
15,596
8.95
—
406,600
Total
260,435
7.20
244,839
406,600
___________________________
(1) On July 26, 2022, the Board of Directors approved an additional stock repurchase plan authorizing the Company to purchase up
to 1,100,000 shares, or 5%, of its outstanding common stock.
(2) Repurchase of 15,596 shares related to tax obligations for shares of restricted stock that vested
on December 31, 2023 under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan. These repurchases were reported by each reporting person on January
4, 2024.
55
Stock Performance Graph.
The following graph compares
our total cumulative shareholder return (which assumes the reinvestment of all dividends) by an investor who invested $100.00 on
December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2023, to the total return by an investor who invested $100.00 in the S&P U.S. Banks Index
$1 Billion - $5 Billion, the S&P U.S. BMI Banks New England Region Index and the NASDAQ Bank Index.
COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL
RETURN
Among Western New England Bancorp, Inc.,
the S&P U.S. Banks Index $1 Billion - $5 Billion, the S&P U.S. BMI Banks New England Region Index and the NASDAQ Bank Index
Period Ending
Index
12/31/18
12/31/19
12/31/20
12/31/21
12/31/22
12/31/23
Western New England Bancorp, Inc.
100.00
97.97
72.50
94.38
104.75
103.62
S&P U.S. Banks $1 Billion - $5 Billion
100.00
124.65
112.84
152.84
137.84
139.95
S&P U.S. BMI Banks New England Region Index
100.00
118.96
103.03
143.80
131.71
121.68
NASDAQ Bank Index
100.00
124.38
115.04
164.44
137.65
132.92
56
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.
[Reserved.]