CAPITAL STOCK

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

CAPITAL STOCK

CAPITAL STOCK

CAPITAL STOCK

We have 199 million authorized shares of common stock. The number of shares of common stock and treasury stock and the share activity were as follows:

	Common Shares			Treasury Shares
	2020	2019	2018	2020	2019	2018
Balance at the beginning of the year	68,608,508	67,341,316	66,742,490	4,836,027	4,424,884	4,881,889
Employee option exercises	802,046	1,079,841	1,182,547	(307,976)	(367,705)	(502,005)
Director option exercises	26,551	146,083	—	—	—	—
Restricted stock vestings	79,700	41,268	39,691	—	—	—
Common stock repurchases	—	—	—	—	778,848	45,000
Common stock repurchased and retired	—	—	(623,412)	—	—	—
Balance at the end of the year	69,516,805	68,608,508	67,341,316	4,528,051	4,836,027	4,424,884

The cash dividends paid on the common stock for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 aggregated $92.7 million, $90.2 million and $82.3 million, respectively.