COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED STOCK

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Equity [Abstract]

COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED STOCK

14. COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED STOCK

The Company’s authorized shares of capital stock, par value of $0.01 per share, consists of 1,945,437,500 shares classified as common stock, 7,412,500 shares classified as 7.875% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, 4,600,000 shares classified as 6.00% Series B Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, 12,650,000 shares classified as 7.625% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, 18,400,000 shares classified as 7.50% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, and 11,500,000 shares classified as 7.625% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock.

(A) Common Stock

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had issued and outstanding 1,018,971,441 and 1,018,913,249 shares of common stock, respectively, with a par value of $0.01 per share.

No options were exercised during the quarter ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company raised $0.6 million, by issuing 56,000 shares of common stock, through the Direct Purchase and Dividend Reinvestment Program. During the quarter ended March 31, 2016, the Company raised $0.5 million, by issuing 54,000 shares of common stock, through the Direct Purchase and Dividend Reinvestment Program.

In August 2015, the Company announced that its board of directors (“Board”) had authorized the repurchase of up to $1.0 billion of its outstanding common shares through December 31, 2016 (“Repurchase Program”). During the quarter ended March 31, 2016, the Company repurchased 11,132,226 shares of its common stock under the Repurchase Program for an aggregate amount of $102.7 million. All shares of common stock purchased were part of a publicly announced plan in open-market transactions.

In March 2012, the Company entered into six separate Distribution Agency Agreements (“Distribution Agency Agreements”) with each of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Rcap Securities, Inc. (together, the Agents). Pursuant to the terms of the Distribution Agency Agreements, the Company may sell from time to time through the Agents, as its sales agents, up to 125,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company did not make any sales under the Distribution Agency Agreements during the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

(B) Preferred Stock

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had issued and outstanding 7,412,500 shares of Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series A Preferred Stock”), with a par value of $0.01 per share and a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared). The Series A Preferred Stock is entitled to a dividend at a rate of 7.875% per year based on the $25.00 liquidation preference before the common stock is entitled to receive any dividends. The Series A Preferred Stock is redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company's option commencing on April 5, 2009 (subject to the Company's right under limited circumstances to redeem the Series A Preferred Stock earlier in order to preserve its qualification as a REIT). Through March 31, 2017, the Company had declared and paid all required quarterly dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock.

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had issued and outstanding 12,000,000 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, with a par value of $0.01 per share and a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared). The Series C Preferred Stock is entitled to a dividend at a rate of 7.625% per year based on the $25.00 liquidation preference before the common stock is entitled to receive any dividends. The Series C Preferred Stock is redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company’s option commencing on May 16, 2017 (subject to the Company’s right under limited circumstances to redeem the Series C Preferred Stock earlier in order to preserve its qualification as a REIT or under limited circumstances related to a change of control of the Company). Through March 31, 2017, the Company had declared and paid all required quarterly dividends on the Series C Preferred Stock.

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had issued and outstanding 18,400,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock, with a par value of $0.01 per share and a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared). The Series D Preferred Stock is entitled to a dividend at a rate of 7.50% per year based on the $25.00 liquidation preference before the common stock is entitled to receive any dividends. The Series D Preferred Stock is redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company’s option commencing on September 13, 2017 (subject to the Company’s right under limited circumstances to redeem the Series D Preferred Stock earlier in order to preserve its qualification as a REIT or under limited circumstances related to a change of control of the Company). Through March 31, 2017, the Company had declared and paid all required quarterly dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock.

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had issued and outstanding 11,500,000 shares of Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series E Preferred Stock”), with a par value of $0.01 per share and a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared). The Series E Preferred Stock is entitled to a dividend at a rate of 7.625% per year based on the $25.00 liquidation preference before the common stock is entitled to receive any dividends. The Series E Preferred Stock is redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company’s option commencing on August 27, 2017 (subject to the Company’s right under limited circumstances to redeem the Series E Preferred Stock earlier in order to preserve its qualification as a REIT or under limited circumstances related to a change of control of the Company). The Series E Preferred Stock was issued in July 2016 as part of the Hatteras Acquisition. Refer to the “Acquisition of Hatteras” Note for additional information. Through March 31, 2017, the Company had declared and paid all required quarterly dividends on the Series E Preferred Stock.

The 7.875% Series A Preferred Stock, 7.625% Series C Preferred Stock, 7.50% Series D Preferred Stock and 7.625% Series E Preferred Stock rank senior to the common stock of the Company.

(C) Distributions to Stockholders

The following table provides a summary of the Company’s dividend distribution activity for the periods presented:

	For the Quarters Ended
	March 31, 2017		March 31, 2016
	(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Distributions declared to common stockholders	$	305,691	$	277,456
Distributions declared per common share	$	0.30	$	0.30
Distributions paid to common stockholders after period end	$	305,691	$	277,456
Distributions paid per common share after period end	$	0.30	$	0.30
Date of distributions paid to common stockholders after period end	April 28, 2017		April 29, 2016
Dividends declared to Series A Preferred stockholders	$	3,648	$	3,648
Dividends declared per share of Series A Preferred Stock	$	0.492	$	0.492
Dividends declared to Series C Preferred stockholders	$	5,719	$	5,719
Dividends declared per share of Series C Preferred Stock	$	0.477	$	0.477
Dividends declared to Series D Preferred stockholders	$	8,625	$	8,625
Dividends declared per share of Series D Preferred Stock	$	0.469	$	0.469
Dividends declared to Series E Preferred stockholders	$	5,481	$	-
Dividends declared per share of Series E Preferred Stock	$	0.477	$	-