STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2014

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY [Abstract]

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

(6)  STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

The Company's Charter authorizes 200,000,000 shares of stock.  The total number of shares of authorized stock consists of 100,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, 30,000,000 shares of Common Stock, 50,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, and 20,000,000 shares of Excess Stock.

Restricted Stock Plan

The Company has a Restricted Stock Plan that provides a form of equity compensation for employees of the Company.  The Plan, which is administered by the Company's compensation committee, authorizes grants of up to an aggregate of 3,750,000 shares of the Company's common equity consisting of 350,000 Common shares, 350,000 Class A Common shares and 3,050,000 shares, which at the discretion of the compensation committee, may be awarded in any combination of Class A Common shares or Common shares.

In accordance with ASC Topic 718, the Company recognized compensation expense for restricted stock awards upon the earlier of the explicit vesting period or the date a participant first becomes eligible for retirement unless a waiver was received by an employee over the retirement age, waving his right to continued vesting after retirement.  For non-vested restricted stock awards granted prior to the adoption of ASC Topic 718 in 2005, the Company continues to recognize compensation expense over the explicit vesting periods and accelerates any remaining unrecognized compensation cost when a participant actually retires.

During the six months ended April 30, 2014, the Company awarded 152,000 shares of Common Stock and 80,500 shares of Class A Common Stock to participants in the Plan.  The grant date fair value of restricted stock grants awarded to participants in 2014 was approximately $3.8 million.

A summary of the status of the Company's non-vested Common and Class A Common shares as of April 30, 2014, and changes during the six months ended April 30, 2014 is presented below:

	Common Shares					Class A Common Shares
Non-vested Shares	Shares			Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value		Shares			Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Non-vested at November 1, 2013		1,479,700		$	15.88		404,150		$	17.39
Granted		152,000		$	15.60		80,500		$	18.32
Vested		(250,900	)	$	13.88		(78,400	)	$	15.18
Forfeited		-		$	-		(6,000	)	$	18.37
Non-vested at April 30, 2014		1,380,800		$	16.21		400,250		$	18.01

As of April 30, 2014, there was $14.7 million of unamortized restricted stock compensation related to non-vested restricted stock grants awarded under the Plan.  The remaining unamortized expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 4.9 years.  For the six and three month periods ended April 30, 2014 amounts charged to compensation expense totaled $1,993,000 and $988,000, respectively. For the six and three month periods ended April 30, 2013 amounts charged to compensation expense totaled $1,993,000 and $1,006,000, respectively.

Share Repurchase Program

Previously, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a share repurchase program ("Original Program") for the repurchase of up to 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock and Class A Common Stock and the Company's Series C and Series D Senior Cumulative Preferred Stock in open-market transactions.  Recognizing that the Company issued a new Series F Preferred Stock in October 2012 and that the remaining outstanding shares of the Series C Cumulative Preferred Stock were redeemed in May 2013, the Board of Directors terminated the Original Program in December 2013 and at the same time approved a new share repurchase program (the "Current Program") for the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of Common stock and Class A Common stock and Series D Senior Cumulative Preferred stock and Series F Cumulative Preferred stock in open market transactions.  Prior to terminating the Original Program, the Company had repurchased 4,600 shares of Common Stock and 724,578 shares of Class A Common Stock under the Original Program.  For the six and three month periods ended April 30, 2014, the Company did not repurchase any shares of stock under either the Original Program or the Current Program.

Preferred Stock

The Series D Preferred Stock is non-voting, has no stated maturity and is not convertible into any other security of the Company and is redeemable at the Company's option at a price of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends.

The Series F Preferred Stock is non-voting, has no stated maturity and is redeemable for cash at $25.00 per share at the Company's option on or after October 24, 2017.  The holders of our Series F Preferred Stock have general preference rights with respect to liquidation and quarterly distributions.  Except under certain conditions, holders of the Series F Preferred Stock will not be entitled to vote on most matters.  In the event of a cumulative arrearage equal to six quarterly dividends, holders of Series F Preferred Stock, together with all of the Company's other series of preferred stock (voting as a single class without regard to series) will have the right to elect two additional members to serve on the Company's Board of Directors until the arrearage has been cured.  Upon the occurrence of a Change of Control, as defined in the Company's Articles of Incorporation, the holders of the Series F Preferred Stock will have the right to convert all or part of the shares of Series F Preferred Stock held by such holders on the applicable conversion date into a number of the Company's shares of Class A Common Stock.