SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

NOTE 7 SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

The Company has an evergreen authorization from the Board of Directors for the repurchase of up to four million common shares in any calendar year. In December 2022, the Board of Directors increased the maximum number of shares authorized to be repurchased in calendar year 2023 to five million common shares and again on June 7, 2023, to seven million shares. The repurchases are made using our cash and cash equivalents or other available sources and are held as treasury shares on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. We repurchased 1.3 million common shares at an aggregate cost of $47.7 million, including excise tax of $0.3 million, during the three months ended December 31, 2023, compared to 0.8 million common shares at an aggregate cost of $39.1 million during the three months ended December 31, 2022. During calendar year 2023 we repurchased substantially all of the seven million total shares authorized for repurchase.

During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we declared $59.1 million in cash dividends consisting of two $0.17 per share supplemental dividends and a base cash dividend of $0.25 per share. One of the supplemental dividends, declared in October 2023, was paid in December 2023. The second supplemental dividend and base cash dividend, declared in December 2023, is payable in February 2024, resulting in a Dividend payable of $42.0 million on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Components of accumulated other comprehensive loss were as follows:

	December 31,		September 30,
(in thousands)	2023		2023
Pre-tax amounts:
Unrealized pension actuarial loss	$	(10,233)	$	(10,407)
	$	(10,233)	$	(10,407)
After-tax amounts:
Unrealized pension actuarial loss	$	(7,847)	$	(7,981)
	$	(7,847)	$	(7,981)

Fluctuations in actuarial gains and losses are primarily due to changes in the discount rate and investment returns related to the defined benefit pension plan.

The following is a summary of the changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, related to the defined benefit pension plan for the three months ended December 31, 2023:

(in thousands)	Three Months Ended December 31, 2023
Balance at beginning of period	$	(7,981)
Activity during the period:
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss	134
Net current-period other comprehensive income	134
Balance at December 31, 2023	$	(7,847)