STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

14. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(a) Preferred stock

The Company has authorized 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, which may be issued from time to time in one or more series. The Board of Directors has the authority to issue the shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to establish the number of shares to be included in each series, and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, without any further vote or action by the stockholders. The issuance of preferred stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of common stock, and may have the effect of delaying, deferring or defeating a change in control of the Company. The Company had not issued any shares of preferred stock through December 31, 2015.

(b) Common stock

The Company has 200,000,000 authorized shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, of which 76,488,000 shares were issued and outstanding at December 31, 2015.

Since 2004, the Company’s Board of Directors has approved stock repurchase programs that have authorized the Company to repurchase in the aggregate up to $169 million of its common stock. On June 4, 2015, the Company announced that its Board of Directors extended the expiration date of the current stock repurchase program to June 30, 2016 and authorized the Company to repurchase up to an additional $50 million of its stock between June 4, 2015 and June 30, 2016. Purchases under these programs have been made on the open market. The following table is a summary of the Company’s repurchase activity under all of the Company’s repurchase programs for the years ended December 31:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015					2014					2013
(Dollars in thousands)	Shares		Amount			Shares		Amount			Shares		Amount
Prior year authorizations at January 1,			$	13,284				$	14,433				$	14,793
Authorizations				50,000					14,410					12,164
Repurchases paid		944,398		(22,530	)		756,143		(15,264	)		773,258		(12,370	)
Repurchases unsettled		7,836		(220	)		13,983		(295	)		6,282		(154	)
Authorized dollars remaining as of December 31,			$	40,534				$	13,284				$	14,433

(c) Dividends

On May 27, 2014, the Company announced an increase in its quarterly common stock cash dividend from $0.015 to $0.03 per share, on a post-split basis. The Company declared quarterly dividends totaling $0.12 per share, $0.105 per share, and $0.06 per share, on a post-split basis, for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. The Company’s Board of Directors authorized the acceleration of the payment of the dividend declared in the fourth quarter 2012, otherwise payable in January 2013, to December 2012. Therefore, there was no dividend payment in the first quarter of 2013. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, the Company paid cash dividends of $9.2 million, $6.9 million, and $3.4 million, respectively. It is the Company’s current intention to pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.03 per share, however, the Board of Directors may terminate or modify this dividend program at any time without notice.