Common Stock and Treasury Stock

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Common Stock and Treasury Stock

Common Stock and Treasury Stock

5. Common Stock and Treasury Stock

Our founder, Chairman, President and CEO, Edward K. Christian, passed away on August 19, 2022. As of the date of his passing, Mr. Christian, who was also our principal shareholder, held approximately 65% of the combined voting power of the Company’s Common Stock based on Class B Common Stock (together with the Class A Common Stock, collectively, the “Common Stock”) generally being entitled to ten votes per share. As a result, Mr. Christian was generally able to control the vote on most matters submitted to the vote of stockholders and, therefore, was able to direct our management and policies, except with respect to (i) the election of two Class A directors, (ii) those matters where the shares of our Class B Common Stock are only entitled to one vote per share, and (iii) other matters requiring a class vote under the provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws or applicable law. Mr. Christian’s passing resulted in the conversion of his Class B shares into Class A shares that were transferred to an estate planning trust that now owns approximately 16% of the common stock outstanding. As a result, we no longer have any shares of Class B Common Stock issued or outstanding.

Dividends.  Shareholders are entitled to receive such dividends as may be declared by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available for such purpose. However, no dividend may be declared or paid in cash or property on any share of any class of Common Stock unless simultaneously the same dividend is declared or paid on each share of the other class of common stock. In the case of any stock dividend, holders of Class A Common Stock are entitled to receive the same percentage dividend (payable in shares of Class A Common Stock) as the holders of Class B Common Stock receive (payable in shares of Class B Common Stock).

Voting Rights.  Holders of shares of Common Stock vote as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, with each share of Class A Common Stock entitled to one vote. Prior to Mr. Christian’s passing, each share of Class B Common Stock was entitled to ten votes, except (i) in the election for directors, (ii) with respect to any “going private” transaction between the Company and the principal stockholder, and (iii) as otherwise provided by law.

Prior to Mr. Christian’s passing, in the election of directors, the holders of Class A Common Stock, voting as a separate class, were entitled to elect twenty-five percent, or two, of our directors. The holders of the Common Stock, voting as a single class with each share of Class A Common Stock entitled to one vote and each share of Class B Common Stock entitled to ten votes, were entitled to elect the remaining directors. The Board of Directors consisted of eight members at December 31, 2022. Currently, our Board of Directors consists of eight members. Holders of Common Stock are not entitled to cumulative voting in the election of directors.

The holders of the Common Stock vote as a single class with respect to any proposed “going private” transaction with the principal stockholder or an affiliate of the principal stockholder, with each share of each class of Common Stock entitled to one vote per share.

Under Florida law, the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of any class of common stock is required to approve, among other things, a change in the designations, preferences and limitations of the shares of such class of common stock.

Liquidation Rights.  Upon our liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up, the holders of Class A Common Stock are entitled to share ratably in accordance with the number of shares held in all assets available for distribution after payment in full of creditors.

The following summarizes information relating to the number of shares of our common stock issued in connection with stock transactions through March 31, 2023:

	Common Stock Issued
	Class A	Class B
	(Shares in thousands)
Balance, January 1, 2022	6,835	965
Conversion of shares	965	(965)
Issuance of restricted stock	67	—
Balance, December 31, 2022	7,867	—
Balance, March 31, 2023	7,867	—

We have a Stock Buy-Back Program to allow us to purchase up to $75.8 million of our Class A Common Stock. As of March 31, 2023, we have remaining authorization of $18.2 million for future repurchases of our Class A Common Stock. On September 14, 2017, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our Class A Common Stock under our trading plan adopted pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b5-1. The Rule 10b5-1 repurchase plan allows us to repurchase our shares during periods when we would normally not be active in the market due to our internal trading blackout periods. Under the plan, we may repurchase our Class A Common Stock in any combination of open market, block transactions and privately negotiated transactions subject to market conditions, legal requirements including applicable SEC regulations (which include certain price, market, volume and timing constraints), specific repurchase instructions and other corporate considerations. Purchases under the plan are funded by cash on our balance sheet. The plan does not obligate us to acquire any particular amount of Class A Common Stock. Our original purchase authorization was effective until September 1, 2018 and has been extended several times, with the most recent authorization instructions extension being through May 28, 2020. We halted the directions for any additional buybacks under our plan in 2020. We continue to monitor economic conditions to determine if and when it makes sense to make additional buybacks under our plan. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, no shares were repurchased under the Stock Buy-Back Program.