Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

In the first quarter of 2020, the Company issued 1.7 million shares of common stock in connection with the redemption of 1.7 million limited partnership units in CPLP. Each of the redeemed limited partnership units in CPLP was "paired" with a share of limited voting preferred stock with a par value of $1 per share. The shares of limited voting preferred stock were automatically redeemed by Cousins without consideration when their paired limited partnership unit in CPLP was redeemed. Holders of limited voting preferred stock are entitled to one vote on the following matters only: the election of directors, any proposed amendment of the Company's Articles of Incorporation, any merger or other business combination of the Company, any sale of substantially all of the Company's assets, and any liquidation of the Company. Holders of limited voting preferred stock are not entitled to any dividends or distributions and the limited voting preferred stock is not convertible into or exchangeable for any other property or securities of the Company.

In 2019, the Company issued 41.6 million shares of common stock in connection with the Merger.

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 the Board of Directors.

Distribution of REIT Taxable Income — The following reconciles dividends paid and dividends applied in 2020, 2019, and 2018 to meet REIT distribution requirements (in thousands):


	2020		2019		2018
Common and preferred dividends	$	176,272	$	142,940	$	107,167
Dividends treated as taxable compensation	(167)		(161)		(150)



Dividends applied to meet current year REIT distribution requirements	$	176,105	$	142,779	$	107,017

Tax Status of Distributions — The following summarizes the components of the taxability of the Company’s common stock distributions for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018:


	Total Distributions Per Share		Ordinary Dividends		Long-Term Capital Gain		Unrecaptured Section 1250 Gain		Nondividend Distributions		Section 199A Dividends		Section 1061 One Year Amounts Disclosure (1)		Section 1061 Three Year Amounts Disclosure (1)
2020	$	1.190000	$	—	$	1.190000	$	0.417166	$	—	$	—	$	0.320351	$	0.320351
2019	$	1.130000	$	0.983133	$	0.146867	$	—	$	—	$	0.983133	$	—	$	—
2018	$	1.020000	$	1.005584	$	0.014416	$	—	$	—	$	1.005584	$	—	$	—


(1)			Amounts included in Box 2a, Total Capital Gain Distributions, for purposes of section 1061 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 1061 is generally applicable to direct and indirect holders of “applicable partnership interests."