Note 16 - Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

16. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Dividend Policy

In the first quarter of 2023, the Company announced that the Company's board of directors increased the cash dividend to $0.0625 per common share. The following table is a schedule of dividends paid during 2023:

Dividend Payment Date	Amount per common share		Record Date
March 31, 2023	$	0.0625	March 24, 2023
June 23, 2023	$	0.0625	May 24, 2023
September 22, 2023	$	0.0625	August 25, 2023
December 21, 2023	$	0.0625	November 24, 2023
Aggregate per share amount paid in 2023	$	0.2500

Preferred stock – Authorized preferred stock consists of 500,000 shares with a par value of $25 per share. No shares of preferred stock were issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023 or 2022.

Treasury stock

On November 1, 2022, the Company announced that the Company’s board of directors formally ratified and approved a share buyback program. The board of directors also directed management to implement a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan (the “10b5-1 Plan”) to facilitate share purchases through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The 10b5-1 Plan provides for an aggregate purchase of currently outstanding common stock up to $30 million over a maximum period of 20 months. Payment for shares repurchased under the share buyback program will be funded using the Company's cash on hand and cash flow from operations. 

The below table shows the repurchases of equity securities related to the share repurchase program during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023:

Period	Total Number of Shares Purchased		Average Price Paid per Share		Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs		Maximum Amount that May Yet Be Used to Purchase Shares Under the Program
January 1, 2023 - January 31, 2023		350,832	$	4.29		350,832	$	25,502,669
February 1, 2023 - February 28, 2023		326,992	$	4.61		326,992	$	24,003,172
March 1, 2023 - March 31, 2023		303,176	$	4.97		303,176	$	22,503,206
April 1, 2023 - April 30, 2023		303,969	$	4.94		303,969	$	21,003,245
May 1, 2023 - May 31, 2023		362,843	$	4.14		362,843	$	19,502,740
June 1, 2023 - June 30, 2023		494,164	$	4.05		494,164	$	17,504,007
July 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023		505,720	$	3.96		505,720	$	15,504,180
August 1, 2023 - August 31, 2023		435,342	$	4.61		435,342	$	13,505,242
September 1, 2023 - September 30, 2023		462,300	$	4.31		462,300	$	11,514,870
October 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023		491,869	$	4.07		491,869	$	9,515,101
November 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023		472,141	$	4.24		472,141	$	7,515,171
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023		449,839	$	4.45		449,839	$	5,515,237
Total	4,959,187				4,959,187