CAPITAL STOCK

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

NOTE 7. CAPITAL STOCK

Common Stock Issuances

During 2017 and 2016, the Company completed the following public offerings of shares of its common stock.

($ in thousands, except per share amounts)
						Weighted
						Average
						Price
		Book Value Per Share				Received				Net
Type of Offering	Period	Beginning		Ending		Per Share⁽¹⁾		Shares		Proceeds⁽²⁾
2017
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	First Quarter	$	10.10	$	9.75	$	10.13	1,286,196	$	12,792
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	Second Quarter		9.75		9.23		10.17	11,012,836		110,065
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	Fourth Quarter		9.15		8.71		9.81	7,746,052		74,750
								20,045,084	$	197,607
2016
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	Second Quarter	$	11.01	$	10.86	$	10.48	646,753	$	6,591
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	Third Quarter		10.86		11.21		10.80	3,818,802		40,525
At the Market Offering Program⁽³⁾	Fourth Quarter		11.21		10.10		10.79	6,707,101		71,212
								11,172,656	$	118,328

Share Repurchase Program

On July 29, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. As part of the share repurchase program, shares may be purchased in open market transactions, including through block purchases, through privately negotiated transactions, or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Open market repurchases will be made in accordance with Exchange Act Rule 10b-18, which sets certain restrictions on the method, timing, price and volume of open market stock repurchases. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined by the Company in its discretion and will be subject to economic and market conditions, stock price, applicable legal requirements and other factors. The authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock and the program may be suspended or discontinued at the Company’s discretion without prior notice.

From the inception of the share repurchase program through December 31, 2017, the Company repurchased a total of 1,216,243 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $10.8 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of $8.92 per share. No shares were repurchased during the years ended December 31, 2017 or 2016.

On February 8, 2018, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the stock repurchase program for up to an additional 4,522,822 shares of the Company’s common stock, which results in a total authorization under the repurchase program for up to 5,306,579 shares of our common stock.

Cash Dividends

The table below presents the cash dividends declared on the Company’s common stock.

(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Year		Per Share Amount		Total
2013	$	1.395	$	4,662
2014		2.160		22,643
2015		1.920		38,748
2016		1.680		41,388
2017		1.680		70,717
2018 - YTD⁽¹⁾		0.110		5,842
Totals	$	8.945	$	184,000

^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}

[1]	The Company has entered into six e quity d istribution a greements, five of which have either been terminated because all shares were sold or were replaced with a subsequent agreement .
[2]	Net proceeds are net o f the underwriters’ discount, if applicable, and other offering costs.
[3]	On January 10, 2018 , the Company declared a dividend of $0.1 1 per share to be paid on February 9, 2018 . The effect of this dividend is included in the table above, but is not reflected in the Company’s financial statements as of December 31, 2017 .
[4]	Weighted average p rice received per share is gross of underwriters’ discount, if applicable, and other offering costs.