Stockholders' Equity

9 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2016

Stockholders' Equity

14. Stockholders’ Equity

Stock-Based Compensation

During fiscal 2013, the Compensation and Development Committee of the Board (“the Committee”) approved a program to award restricted stock units to certain employees at the operating subsidiary and corporate levels. Under this program, the Committee approved awards that were granted in fiscal 2015 related to fiscal year 2014 performance and approved additional awards that were granted in fiscal 2016 related to fiscal 2015 performance. The employee restricted stock units vest, and shares of common stock will be issued, in equal installments on the first, second and third anniversaries of the date of grant. In fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2015, the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board awarded restricted stock units to Board members that will vest, and shares of common stock will be issued, on the first anniversary of the date of the grant.

Total expense recognized in the three-month periods ended April 30, 2016 and April 30, 2015 for these restricted stock unit awards and other stock-based compensation was $2,312 and $1,720, respectively. Total expense recognized in the nine-month periods ended April 30, 2016 and April 30, 2015 for these restricted stock unit awards and other stock-based compensation was $6,991 and $5,047, respectively.

For the restricted stock units that vested during the nine-month periods ended April 30, 2016 and April 30, 2015, a portion of the vested shares awarded were withheld as treasury shares to cover the recipients’ estimated withholding taxes. Tax payments made by the Company related to these stock-based awards for the nine-month periods ended April 30, 2016 and April 30, 2015 totaled $2,484 and $1,562, respectively.

Retained Earnings

The components of the change in retained earnings are as follows:

Balance as of July 31, 2015	$	1,172,432
Net income		173,747
Dividends declared and paid		(47,227	)
Balance as of April 30, 2016	$	1,298,952

The dividends declared and paid total of $47,227 represents the total of the regular quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share for each of the first three quarters of fiscal 2016.