EQUITY

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Note 12: 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 June 30, 2021, December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020.

Our common stock purchases (all of which were open market purchases) and subsequent retirements for the year-to-date periods ended are as follows:



	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands, except average cost	2021	2020	2020
Shares Purchased and Retired
Number	0	214	214
Total purchase price	$ 0	$ 26,132	$ 26,132
Average cost per share	$ 0.00	$ 121.92	$ 121.92

As of June 30, 2021, 8,064,851 shares may be purchased under the current authorization of our Board of Directors.

Changes in total equity are summarized below:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands, except per share data	2021	2020	2021	2020
Total Equity
Balance at beginning of period	$ 6,136,241	$ 5,590,326	$ 6,027,330	$ 5,621,857
Net earnings	195,344	209,916	355,958	270,174
Common stock issued
Share-based compensation plans, net of shares
withheld for taxes	(798)	(1,456)	(12,876)	(16,539)
Purchase and retirement of common stock	0	0	0	(26,132)
Share-based compensation expense	9,819	8,504	17,688	15,220
Cash dividends on common stock
($0.37/$0.34/$0.74/$0.68 per share, respectively)	(49,088)	(45,028)	(98,173)	(90,128)
Other comprehensive income (expense)	1,595	1,889	3,186	(10,301)
Balance at end of period	$ 6,293,113	$ 5,764,151	$ 6,293,113	$ 5,764,151