Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

9.	Shareholders’ Equity

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Under the Company’s First Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), employees may apply up to 10% of their compensation to purchase the Company’s common stock. Shares are purchased at the closing market price on the business day preceding the date of purchase. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 107,000 shares remain unissued under the ESPP. During 2017, 2016, and 2015, approximately 29,000, 44,000, and 37,000 shares, respectively, were purchased under the ESPP at an average price of $5.29, $4.91, and $7.38 per share, respectively.

Stock Trusts

The Company previously maintained a Stock Employee Compensation Trust (SECT) to provide funding for existing employee stock plans and benefit programs. Shares of the Company’s common stock were purchased by and released from the SECT by the trustee of the SECT at the request of the compensation committee of the Board of Directors. During 2016, the SECT was dissolved, and all shares remaining in the SECT, totaling approximately 2.7 million shares, were transferred into treasury stock. There were 503,000 and 98,000 shares, respectively, released by the SECT during 2016 (prior to the dissolution of the SECT) and 2015. No shares were purchased by the SECT during 2017, 2016, and 2015, and previously there were 3.2 million shares in the SECT at December 31, 2015.

The Company created an Omnibus Stock Trust (OST) to provide funding for various employee benefit programs. Shares of the Company’s common stock are released from the OST by the trustee at the request of the compensation committee of the Board of Directors. The OST was also dissolved during 2016, and the remaining 59,000 shares were transferred into treasury stock. There were no shares purchased or released by the OST during 2017, 2016, or 2015, and previously there were 59,000 shares in the OST at December 31, 2015.

Preferred Stock

At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company had 2.5 million shares of par value $0.01 preferred stock authorized for issuance, but none outstanding.