Note 14 - Capital Stock

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2018

Notes to Financial Statements

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

14.

Capital Stock

Common Stock -

Each share of Class A Common Stock entitles its holder to

one

vote per share, and each share of Class B Common Stock generally entitles its holder to

ten

votes per share. The amount of any regular cash dividend payable on a share of Class A Common Stock will be an amount equal to

110%

of the corresponding regular cash dividend payable on a share of Class B Common Stock. If a shareholder desires to sell shares of Class B Common Stock, such stock must be converted into shares of Class A Common Stock at a

one

to

one

conversion rate.

On

August 

4,

2008,

our Board of Directors adopted a shareholder rights plan (the “Rights Plan”), which was amended on

January 11, 2018,

designed to preserve shareholder value and the value of certain tax assets primarily associated with net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards and built-in losses under Section 

382

of the Internal Revenue Code. Our ability to use NOLs and built-in losses would be limited if there was an “ownership change” under Section 

382.

This would occur if shareholders owning (or deemed under Section 

382

to own)

5%

or more of our stock increase their collective ownership of the aggregate amount of our outstanding shares by more than

50

 percentage points over a defined period of time. The Rights Plan was adopted to reduce the likelihood of an “ownership change” occurring as defined by Section 

382.

Under the Rights Plan,

one

right was distributed for each share of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock outstanding as of the close of business on

August 

15,

2008.

Effective

August 

15,

2008,

if any person or group acquires

4.9%

or more of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock without the approval of the Board of Directors, there would be a triggering event causing significant dilution in the voting power of such person or group. However, existing stockholders who owned, at the time of the Rights Plan’s initial adoption on

August 4, 2008,

4.9%

or more of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock will trigger a dilutive event only if they acquire additional shares. The approval of the Board of Directors’ decision to adopt the Rights Plan

may

be terminated by the Board of Directors at any time, prior to the Rights being triggered. The Rights Plan will continue in effect until

August 

14,

2021,

unless it expires earlier in accordance with its terms. The approval of the Board of Directors’ decision to initially adopt the Rights Plan was approved by shareholders at a special meeting of stockholders held on

December 

5,

2008

and the amendment to the Rights Plan adopted by the Board on

January 11, 2018

was approved by shareholders at the Company's annual meeting of shareholders held on

March 13, 2018.

Also at the special meeting on

December 

5,

2008,

our stockholders approved an amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to restrict certain transfers of Class A Common Stock in order to preserve the tax treatment of our NOLs and built-in losses under Section 

382

of the Internal Revenue Code. Subject to certain exceptions pertaining to pre-existing

5%

stockholders and Class B stockholders, the transfer restrictions in our Restated Certificate of Incorporation generally restrict any direct or indirect transfer (such as transfers of our stock that result from the transfer of interests in other entities that own our stock) if the effect would be to (i) increase the direct or indirect ownership of our stock by any person (or public group) from less than

5%

to

5%

or more of our common stock; (ii) increase the percentage of our common stock owned directly or indirectly by a person (or public group) owning or deemed to own

5%

or more of our common stock; or (iii) create a new “public group” (as defined in the applicable United States Treasury regulations). Transfers included under the transfer restrictions include sales to persons (or public groups) whose resulting percentage ownership (direct or indirect) of common stock would exceed the

5%

thresholds discussed above, or to persons whose direct or indirect ownership of common stock would by attribution cause another person (or public group) to exceed such threshold.

On

July 3, 2001,

our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program to purchase up to

4

million shares of Class A Common Stock. There were

no

shares purchased during year ended

October 31, 2018. 

As of

October 31, 2018,

the maximum number of shares of Class A Common Stock that

may

yet be purchased under this program is

0.5

million.

Preferred Stock -

On

July 

12,

2005,

we issued

5,600

shares of

7.625%

Series A Preferred Stock, with a liquidation preference of

$25,000

per share. Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock are

not

cumulative and are payable at an annual rate of

7.625%.

The Series A Preferred Stock is

not

convertible into the Company’s common stock and is redeemable in whole or in part at our option at the liquidation preference of the shares. The Series A Preferred Stock is traded as depositary shares, with each depositary share representing

1/1000th

 of a share of Series A Preferred Stock. The depositary shares are listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “HOVNP.” In fiscal

2018,

2017

and

2016,

we did

not

pay any dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock due to covenant restrictions in our debt instruments. We anticipate that we will continue to be restricted from paying dividends, which are

not

cumulative, for the foreseeable future.

Retirement Plan

- We have established a tax-qualified, defined contribution savings and investment retirement plan (a

401

(k) plan). All associates are eligible to participate in the retirement plan, and employer contributions are based on a percentage of associate contributions and our operating results. Plan costs charged to operations were

$7.0

million,

$6.8

million and

$6.6

million for the years ended

October 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016,

respectively.