Benzinga | May 12, 2021 02:40PM EDT

DXP Enterprises Announces Authorization Of Stock Purchase Program Up To $85M or 1.5M Shares

DXP Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXPE) today announced that its Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program (the "program") under which up to $85.0 million or 1.5 million shares of its outstanding common stock may be acquired in the open market over the next 24 months at the discretion of management.

The shares may be purchased from time to time at prevailing market prices, through open market or unsolicited negotiated transactions, depending upon market conditions. Under the program, the purchases would be funded from available working capital. There is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that will be repurchased, and DXP may discontinue the program at any time management determines additional purchases are not warranted. As of March 31, 2021, DXP had approximately 20 million shares outstanding.

David R. Little, Chairman and CEO commented, "The Board's approval of this program reflects confidence in DXP's future and puts us in a position to create additional shareholder value when the opportunities arise. Repurchasing stock is one means of underscoring our commitment to enhancing shareholder value and ensuring we have all the tools available to us as senior management. DXP's board and management believe that the most accretive and beneficial use of cash at times is the repurchase of our shares."

Kent Yee, CFO commented, "DXP has historically opportunistically bought back shares from time to time to offset dilution primarily from our restricted stock plan but never as a part of a formal program that includes multiple factors and explicitly as a part of our capital allocation and price versus value creation. Our share repurchase program demonstrates the confidence we have in our future, ability to grow free cash flow and our ongoing commitment to create shareholder and stakeholder value. Share repurchases is an important tool that DXP should have in place. We have averaged $47.6 million in cash on the balance sheet over the last 15 quarters, since the third quarter of 2017."