Capital stock

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Equity [Abstract]

Capital stock

Capital stock

Share repurchases

 The Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) has authorized repurchases of up to $2,250,000 under the Company’s existing share repurchase program, including $500,000 approved during the first quarter of 2023. Under the program, shares may be purchased in privately negotiated and/or open market transactions, including under plans complying with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2023, the Company repurchased 4,067,044 and 3,828,084 of its common shares, respectively, on the open market at a weighted average price of $44.75 and $39.31 per share, respectively, for an aggregate cash amount of $182,012 and $150,471, respectively. All repurchased shares have been retired. 

The Company records repurchases of its common shares on the settlement date of each transaction. Shares purchased and retired are deducted to the extent of their par value from common stock and from retained earnings for the excess over par value. Direct costs incurred to acquire the shares are included in the total cost of the shares purchased. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2023, retained earnings were reduced by the direct costs, including taxes, related to share repurchases of $81 and $677, respectively.

$474,453 remained available for share repurchases under the Company’s existing share repurchase program as of September 30, 2023. This repurchase program does not obligate the Company to acquire any specific number of shares and does not specify an expiration date. 

17. Capital stock (Continued)

Dividend

On February 10, 2022, the Company announced that its Board had approved a 16% increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.125 per share, up from $0.1075 per share in 2021, representing an annual dividend of $0.50 per common share, up from $0.43 per share in 2021, payable to holders of the Company’s common shares. On March 23, 2022, June 24, 2022 and September 23, 2022, the Company paid a dividend of $0.125 per share, amounting to $23,134, $22,935 and $22,873 in the aggregate, to shareholders of record as of March 10, 2022, June 10, 2022 and September 9, 2022, respectively.

On February 9, 2023, the Company announced that its Board had approved a 10% increase in its quarterly cash dividend to $0.1375 per share, up from $0.125 per share in 2022, representing a planned annual dividend of $0.55 per common share, up from $0.50 per share in 2022, payable to holders of the Company’s common shares. On March 24, 2023, June 26, 2023 and September 26, 2023, the Company paid a dividend of $0.1375 per share, amounting to $25,255 $25,031 and $24,944 in the aggregate, to shareholders of record as of March 10, 2023, June 9, 2023 and September 8, 2023, respectively.