12. Stockholders’ Equity

Cash dividends of $1.24, $1.06 and $0.88 were declared during fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Future decisions to pay or to increase or decrease dividends are at the discretion of the Board and will be dependent on our operating performance, financial condition, capital expenditure requirements, limitations on cash distributions pursuant to the terms and conditions of our Facility and applicable law, and such other factors that the Board considers relevant. (See Note 9 for further discussion of our Facility.)

On July 21, 2016, our Board increased the authorization to repurchase our common stock by 7.5 million shares to 56.0 million shares. Under this and all previous authorizations, we have cumulatively repurchased 51.8 million shares at a total cost of $1,642.1 million through January 1, 2019. During fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016, we repurchased 2.3 million, 2.6 million and 2.9 million shares of our common stock at a cost of $109.3 million, $123.0 million and $146.5 million, respectively. Repurchased common stock is reflected as a reduction of stockholders’ equity in treasury stock. Share repurchases have been executed under stock repurchase plans adopted from time to time by our Board in furtherance of its repurchase authorization and are intended to qualify for safe harbor protection in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 and Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Act of 1934.

Repurchases made during fiscal 2018 were made pursuant to the following stock repurchase plans adopted by our Board:


Adoption Date		Effective Dates
October 26, 2017		December 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018
February 15, 2018		May 1, 2018 through July 31, 2018
July 26, 2018		August 3, 2018 through August 17, 2018
July 26, 2018		August 31, 2018 through February 1, 2019

Our share repurchase authorization does not have an expiration date, does not require us to purchase a specific number of shares and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time. Shares may be repurchased in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions at times and prices considered appropriate by us. All purchases in the open market are made in compliance with Rule 10b-18. We make the determination to repurchase shares based on several factors, including an evaluation of current and future capital needs associated with new restaurant development, current and forecasted cash flows, including dividend payments and growth capital contributions to North Italia and Flower Child, a review of our capital structure and cost of capital, our share price and current market conditions. The timing and number of shares repurchased are also subject to legal constraints and financial covenants under our Facility that limit share repurchases based on a defined ratio. (See Note 9 for further discussion of our long-term debt.) Our objectives with regard to share repurchases are to offset the dilution to our shares outstanding that results from equity compensation grants and to supplement our earnings per share growth.