EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

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, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

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

in millions, except average cost	2023	2022	2021
Shares Purchased and Retired
Number	1.0	0.0	0.0
Total purchase price 1	$          200.0	$            0.0	$            0.0
Average cost per share	$        204.52	$          0.00	$          0.00

¹ The amount paid to purchase shares in excess of the par value and related excise taxes are recorded in retained earnings.

As of December 31, 2023, 7,087,260 shares may be purchased under the current authorization of our Board of Directors.

Dividends for the years ended December 31 were as follows:

in millions, except per share data	2023	2022	2021
Dividends
Cash dividends	$          228.4	$        212.6	$        196.4
Cash dividends per share	$            1.72	$          1.60	$          1.48

Total equity as presented in the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 includes a noncontrolling interest of $24.5 million, representing the unowned portion of a subsidiary. See Note 1 under the heading “Noncontrolling Interest” for additional discussion.