EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

EQUITY [Abstract]

EQUITY

NOTE 13: EQUITY

Our capital stock consists solely of common stock, par value $1.00 per share, of which 480,000,000 shares may be issued. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. We may also issue 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, but no shares have been issued. The terms and provisions of such shares will be determined by our Board of Directors upon any issuance of preferred shares in accordance with our Certificate of Incorporation.

There were no shares held in treasury as of December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Our common stock purchases (all of which were open market purchases) and subsequent retirements for the years ended December 31 are summarized below:

in thousands, except average cost	2019	2018	2017
Shares Purchased and Retired
Number	19	1,192	510
Total purchase price	$          2,602	$     133,983	$       60,303
Average cost per share	$        139.90	$       112.41	$       118.18

As of December 31, 2019, 8,279,189 shares may be purchased under the current authorization of our Board of Directors.

Dividends for the years ended December 31 were as follows:

in thousands, except per share data	2019	2018	2017
Dividends
Cash dividends	$      163,973	$     148,109	$     132,335
Cash dividends per share	$            1.24	$           1.12	$           1.00