Stockholder's Equity

Preferred Stock

We had 2,000,000 authorized and unissued shares of preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share, as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016. Shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time, by authorization of our Board of Directors and without the necessity of further action or authorization by stockholders, in one or more series and with such voting powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights and qualifications as the Board of Directors may, in its discretion, determine.

Common Stock Public Offering

In September 2016, we completed a public offering of 960,488 shares of our common stock at a public offering price per share of $62.26. The net proceeds from the sale of common stock, after deducting underwriting commissions and expenses, were approximately $57.4 million, which were added to our general funds and used primarily to repay a portion of our short-term debt under unsecured lines of credit.

Stockholders' Rights

Pursuant to authority granted under Delaware law and our Certificate of Incorporation, our Board of Directors previously declared a dividend of one preferred stock purchase right (each, a "Right," and, collectively, the "Rights") for each outstanding share of our common stock held of record on September 3, 1999, as adjusted for our stock split in September of 2014, and for additional shares of common stock issued since that time. The description and terms of the Rights are set forth in the Rights Plan. Unless exercised, the Rights trade with our common stock and are evidenced by the common stock certificate. In general, each Right will become exercisable and trade independently from our common stock upon a person or entity acquiring a beneficial ownership of 15 percent or more of our outstanding common stock.

Each Right, if it becomes exercisable, initially entitles the holder to purchase one fiftieth of a share of our Series A Participating Cumulative Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a price of $70 per unit, subject to anti-dilution adjustments. Upon a person or entity becoming an "acquiring person," each Right (other than the Rights held by the acquiring person) will become exercisable to purchase a number of shares of our common stock having a market value equal to two times the exercise price of the Right. The Rights expire on August 20, 2019, unless they are redeemed earlier by us at the redemption price of $0.01 per Right. We may redeem the Rights at any time before they become exercisable and thereafter only in limited circumstances.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Defined benefit pension and postretirement plan items, unrealized gains (losses) of our propane swap agreements, call options and natural gas futures contracts, designated as commodity contracts cash flow hedges, are the components of our accumulated other comprehensive loss.

The following tables present the changes in the balance of accumulated other comprehensive loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016. All amounts are presented net of tax.



	Defined Benefit			Commodity
	Pension and			Contracts
	Postretirement			Cash Flow
	Plan Items			Hedges			Total
(in thousands)
As of December 31, 2016	$	(5,360	)	$	482		$	(4,878	)
Other comprehensive income/(loss) before reclassifications	(9		)	322			313
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)	271			(965		)	(694		)
Net current-period other comprehensive income/(loss)	262			(643		)	(381		)
As of September 30, 2017	$	(5,098	)	$	(161	)	$	(5,259	)



	Defined Benefit			Commodity
	Pension and			Contracts
	Postretirement			Cash Flow
	Plan Items			Hedges			Total
(in thousands)
As of December 31, 2015	$	(5,580	)	$	(260	)	$	(5,840	)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications	—			641			641
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss)	263			(93		)	170
Net prior-period other comprehensive income	263			548			811
As of September 30, 2016	$	(5,317	)	$	288		$	(5,029	)

The following table presents amounts reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive loss for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016. Deferred gains or losses for our commodity contracts cash flow hedges are recognized in earnings upon settlement.



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016
(in thousands)
Amortization of defined benefit pension and postretirement plan items:
Prior service credit ⁽¹⁾	$	19		$	20		$	58		$	60
Net loss⁽¹⁾	(171		)	(166		)	(509		)	(500		)
Total before income taxes	(152		)	(146		)	(451		)	(440		)
Income tax benefit	61			58			180			177
Net of tax	$	(91	)	$	(88	)	$	(271	)	$	(263	)

Gains and losses on commodity contracts cash flow hedges
Propane swap agreements ⁽²⁾	$	198		$	—		$	663		$	(322	)
Natural gas swaps ⁽²⁾	1			—			1			—
Natural gas futures ⁽²⁾	(852		)	105			929			464
Total before income taxes	(653		)	105			1,593			142
Income tax benefit (expense)	248			(41		)	(628		)	(49		)
Net of tax	(405		)	64			965			93
Total reclassifications for the period	$	(496	)	$	(24	)	$	694		$	(170	)

⁽¹⁾ These amounts are included in the computation of net periodic costs (benefits). See Note 8, Employee Benefit Plans, for additional details.

⁽²⁾ These amounts are included in the effects of gains and losses from derivative instruments. See Note 11, Derivative Instruments, for additional details.

Amortization of defined benefit pension and postretirement plan items is included in operations expense, and gains and losses on propane swap agreements and call options are included in cost of sales, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. The income tax benefit is included in income tax income (expense) in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income.