Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2016

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity

Stockholders’ Equity

Sale of Common Stock

In June 2016, the Company sold 7,145,000 shares of its common stock in a public offering at a price of $14.00 per share, resulting in proceeds to the Company of $95,029,000, net of underwriting discounts and commissions. As of July 31, 2016 and October 6, 2016, an aggregate registered amount of $74,970,000 under the Company's existing Shelf Registration Statement filed with the SEC remains available for sale of various types of securities, including debt. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, the Company recorded $1,112,000 of total issuance costs related to this common stock offering, $959,000 of which was a reduction to the additional paid-in capital included in the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2016.

Stock Repurchase Program

As of July 31, 2016 and October 6, 2016, we were authorized to repurchase an additional $8,664,000 of our common stock, pursuant to our current $100,000,000 stock repurchase program. Our stock repurchase program has no time restrictions and repurchases may be made in open-market or privately negotiated transactions and may be made pursuant to SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.

There were no repurchases made during the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016. In fiscal 2015, we repurchased 175,735 shares of our common stock in open market transactions with an average price per share of $28.39 and an aggregate cost of $4,989,000 (including transaction costs).

Dividends

Since September 2010, we have paid quarterly dividends pursuant to an annual targeted dividend amount that was established by our Board of Directors which is currently set at $1.20 per common share. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, our Board of Directors declared quarterly dividends of $0.30 per common share on September 28, 2015, December 9, 2015, March 10, 2016, and June 8, 2016, which were paid to shareholders on November 20, 2015, February 17, 2016, May 20, 2016 and August 19, 2016, respectively. During the fiscal year ended 2015, our Board of Directors declared four quarterly cash dividends of $0.30 per common share.

On October 6, 2016, our Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.30 per common share, payable on November 22, 2016 to shareholders of record at the close of business on October 21, 2016. The Board of Directors is currently targeting fiscal 2017 dividend payments aggregating $1.20 per share while at the same time, during the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Board began further assessing our capital needs generally and the appropriate level of future dividends. Future dividends also remain subject to compliance with financial covenants under our Secured Credit Facility as well as Board approval.

3.0% Convertible Senior Notes

In May 2009, we issued $200,000,000 of our 3.0% convertible senior notes in a private offering pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The net proceeds from this transaction were $194,541,000 after deducting the initial purchasers' discount and other transaction costs of $5,459,000. The 3.0% convertible senior notes bore interest at an annual rate of 3.0%. Pursuant to the terms of the 3.0% convertible senior notes indenture, cash dividends required an adjustment to the conversion rate, effective on the record date.

In April and May 2014, $50,037,000 principal amount of our 3.0% convertible senior notes were converted by the holders into 1,570,904 shares of our common stock at a conversion price of $31.85 per share (a conversion rate of 31.3953 shares per $1,000 original principal amount of notes) with a nominal amount of cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. In connection with the partial conversion of the 3.0% convertible senior notes, we recorded a net increase to additional paid-in capital of $49,596,000, which primarily related to the carrying value of our 3.0% convertible senior notes in excess of the par value of our common stock issued. The remaining $149,963,000 of our 3.0% convertible senior notes were redeemed or repurchased for cash in May 2014 at 100.0% of the principal amount, plus interest. As of July 31, 2015, none of our 3.0% convertible senior notes remained outstanding.