Shareholders' Equity

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Shareholders' Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

NOTE 10: SHAREHOLDERS EQUITY

A summary of the changes to shareholders equity for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 is provided below:

		For the nine months ended September 30,
($ in thousands)		2015			2014
Shareholders' equity, beginning of period	$	40,156		$	13,006
Net (loss) income		(3,838	)		29,958
Dividends paid on common stock		(15,601	)		-
Dividends paid on preferred stock		(19	)		(19	)
Stock based compensation		684			677
Treasury stock purchases		(125	)		(399	)
Changes in pension and postretirement benefit plans		782			410
Shareholders' equity, end of period	$	22,039		$	43,633

Special Cash Dividend

On May 14, 2015, the Companys Board of Directors authorized and declared a special cash dividend of $2.60 on each common share.

The record date for the special cash dividend was June 19, 2015, and the payment date for the dividend was June 30, 2015. At $2.60 per share, the special cash dividend represented approximately 36.0% of the Companys closing stock price on May 14, 2015. Pursuant to NYSE MKT policy, when a dividend is declared in a per share amount that exceeds 20% of a company's stock price, the date on which that company's shares will begin to trade without the dividend, or ex-dividend, is the first business day following the payable date. The ex-dividend date as set by NYSE MKT was July 1, 2015, the first business day following the payable date for the special cash dividend. Shareholders of record on the record date who sold their shares of the Companys common stock prior to July 1, 2015 were required by the NYSE MKT to give the purchaser of those shares of the Companys common stock a due bill, covering the amount of the dividend, to be redeemed on the date fixed by the NYSE MKT.