Shareholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Shareholders' Equity

NOTE 11: SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Preferred Shares

Dividends:

On January 29, 2014, our board of trustees declared a first quarter 2014 cash dividend of $0.484375 per share on our 7.75% Series A Preferred Shares, $0.5234375 per share on our 8.375% Series B Preferred Shares, $0.5546875 per share on our 8.875% Series C Preferred Shares and $0.4687500 per share on our Series D Preferred Shares. The dividends were paid on March 31, 2014 to holders of record on March 3, 2014 and totaled $5,329.

At Market Issuance Sales Agreement (ATM):

On January 10, 2014, we agreed with MLV & Co. LLC, or MLV, to terminate the Preferred ATM agreement. We did not incur any termination penalties as a result of the termination of the Preferred ATM agreement.

Common Shares

Dividends:

On March 18, 2014, the board of trustees declared a $0.17 dividend on our common shares to holders of record as of April 4, 2014. The dividend was paid on April 30, 2014 and totaled $13,914.

Equity Compensation:

During the three-month period ended March 31, 2014, 20,530 phantom unit awards were redeemed for common shares, a portion of which was withheld in order to satisfy the applicable withholding taxes. These phantom units were fully vested at the time of redemption.

On January 29, 2014, the compensation committee awarded 42,217 common share awards, valued at $350 using our closing stock price of $8.29, to the board’s non-management trustees. These awards vested immediately. On January 29, 2014, the compensation committee awarded 293,700 restricted common share awards, valued at $2,435 using our closing stock price of $8.29, to our executive officers and non-executive officer employees. These awards generally vest over three-year periods.

On January 29, 2014, the compensation committee awarded 891,600 stock appreciation rights, or SARs, valued at $1,178 based on a Black-Scholes option pricing model at the date of grant, to our executive officers and non-executive officer employees. The SARs vest over a three-year period and may be exercised between the date of vesting and January 29, 2019, the expiration date of the SARs.

Dividend Reinvestment and Share Purchase Plan (DRSPP):

We have a dividend reinvestment and share purchase plan, or DRSPP, under which we registered and reserved for issuance, in the aggregate, 10,500,000 common shares. During the three-month period ended March 31, 2014, we issued a total of 1,736 common shares pursuant to the DRSPP at a weighted-average price of $8.42 per share and we received $15 of net proceeds. As of March 31, 2014, 7,776,084 common shares, in the aggregate, remain available for issuance under the DRSPP.

Capital on Demand™ Sales Agreement (COD):

On November 21, 2012, we entered into a Capital on Demand™ Sales Agreement, or the COD sales agreement, with JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, or JonesTrading, pursuant to which we may issue and sell up to 10,000,000 of our common shares from time to time through JonesTrading acting as agent and/or principal, subject to the terms and conditions of the COD sales agreement. Unless the COD sales agreement is earlier terminated by JonesTrading or us, the COD sales agreement automatically terminates upon the issuance and sale of all of the common shares subject to the COD sales agreement. During the three-month period ended March 31, 2014, we issued a total of 425,920 common shares pursuant to this agreement at a weighted-average price of $8.36 per share and we received $3,473 of net proceeds. As of March 31, 2014, 8,134,138 common shares, in the aggregate, remain available for issuance under the COD sales agreement.

Common Share Public Offering:

In January 2014, we issued 10,000,000 common shares in an underwritten public offering. The public offering price was $8.52 per share and we received $82,570 of proceeds.

Noncontrolling Interests

On January 29, 2014, our subsidiary, Independence Realty Trust, Inc., or IRT, completed an underwritten public offering selling 8,050,000 shares of IRT common stock for $8.30 per share raising gross proceeds of $66,815. We purchased 1,204,819 shares of common stock in the offering, at the public offering price, for which no underwriting discounts and commissions were paid to the underwriters. As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, we held 6,969,719 and 5,764,900 shares, respectively, of IRT common stock representing 39.3% and 59.7%, respectively, of the outstanding shares of IRT common stock. We consolidate IRT as it is a VIE and we are the primary beneficiary. See Note 9 for additional disclosures pertaining to VIEs.