Stockholders' Equity (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

In 2015, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of its outstanding common shares. The plan expires on September 8, 2017. The repurchases may be executed in the open market, through private negotiations, or in other transactions permitted under applicable law. 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 share repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

Under this plan, through December 31, 2015, the Company has repurchased 5.2 million shares of its common stock for a total cost of $47.8 million, including broker commissions. The share repurchases were funded from cash on hand, borrowings under the Company's Credit Facility, and proceeds from the sale of assets. The repurchased shares were recorded as treasury shares on the consolidated balance sheet.

Subsequent to year-end, through January 31, 2016, the Company has repurchased 193,000 shares of its common stock for a total cost of $1.6 million.

In 2014, the Company issued 26.7 million shares of common stock, in two offerings, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of $321.9 million, which includes customary legal, accounting, and other expenses. In 2013, the Company issued 85.6 million shares of common stock, in two offerings, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of $826.2 million.

In 2014, the Company redeemed all outstanding shares of its 7.5% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $1 per share, for $25 per share or $94.8 million, excluding accrued dividends. In connection with this redemption, the Company decreased net income available for common stockholders by $3.5 million (non-cash), which represents the original issuance costs applicable to the shares redeemed.

Ownership Limitations — In order to minimize the risk that the Company will not meet one of the requirements for qualification as a REIT, the Company's Articles of Incorporation include certain restrictions on the ownership of more than 3.9% of the Company’s total common and preferred stock, subject to waiver by Board of Directors.

Distribution of REIT Taxable Income — The following reconciles dividends paid and dividends applied in 2015, 2014, and 2013 to meet REIT distribution requirements (in thousands):

	2015			2014			2013
Common and preferred dividends paid	$	69,196		$	64,510		$	37,200
Dividends treated as taxable compensation	(94		)	(110		)	(98		)
Portion of dividends declared in current year, and paid in current year, which was applied to the prior year distribution requirements	(731		)	(2,182		)	(470		)
Portion of dividends declared in subsequent year, and paid in subsequent year, which apply to current year distribution requirements	34			731			2,182
Dividends applied to meet current year REIT distribution requirements	$	68,405		$	62,949		$	38,814

Tax Status of Distributions — The following summarizes the components of the taxability of the Company’s distributions for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013:

	Total  Distributions Per Share		Ordinary Dividends		Long-Term Capital Gain		Unrecaptured Section 1250 Gain (A)		Cash Liquidation Distributions
Common:
2015	$	0.320000	$	0.161738	$	0.158262	$	0.097271	$	—
2014	$	0.300000	$	0.281564	$	0.018436	$	0.018436	$	—
2013	$	0.180000	$	0.170355	$	0.009645	$	0.009457	$	—
Series A Preferred:
2013	$	25.968750	$	0.966882	$	0.001868	$	—	$	25.000000
Series B Preferred:
2014	$	25.776040	$	0.467750	$	0.001000	$	0.001000	$	25.307290
2013	$	1.875000	$	1.774673	$	0.100327	$	0.098519	$	—

(A) Represents a portion of the dividend allocated to long-term capital gain.