COMMON STOCK AND OTHER PAID-IN CAPITAL

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Equity [Abstract]

COMMON STOCK AND OTHER PAID-IN CAPITAL

NOTE 14.      COMMON STOCK AND OTHER PAID-IN CAPITAL

Policy on Shareholder Rights Plans  

   NVE's policy is to seek shareholder approval prior to the adoption of a shareholder rights plan, unless the BOD, in the exercise of its fiduciary duties and with the concurrence of a majority of its independent members, determines that, under the circumstances existing at the time, it is in the best interest of NVE's shareholders to adopt a shareholder rights plan without first obtaining shareholder approval.  If a shareholder rights plan is adopted without prior shareholder approval, the plan must provide that it shall expire, unless ratified by shareholders, within one year of adoption.

Stock Ownership Plans  

As of December 31, 2011, 13,350,162 shares of common stock have been made available by shareholder approval for the CSIP, ESPP, LTIP and NEDSP.

The LTIP allows awards to be granted to officers and key employees through December 2013.  The LTIP permits the following types of grants, separately or in combination: nonqualified and qualified stock options; incentive stock options; stock appreciation rights; dividend equivalent rights; restricted stock; restricted stock units; performance units; performance shares; and other equity based awards in cash. Awards may be paid out in shares of common stock.

The ESPP is available to all employees meeting minimum service requirements.  Employees can choose twice each year to have up to 15% of their base earnings withheld to purchase NVE common stock.  The purchase price of the stock is 85% of the market value on the offering date or the exercise date, whichever is less.

NEDSP

The annual retainer for non-employee directors is $135,000, and the minimum amount to be paid in NVE stock is $75,000 per director. The director may elect to take the remainder in cash or in stock, and a stock award may be deferred until such time as the director is no longer a director of NVE, provided such elections are made sufficiently in advance pursuant to applicable plan provisions. Stock to fulfill the common stock portions of the annual BOD and BOD chair retainers is issued under the NEDSP. Under the NEDSP, the number of shares awarded in compensation is based on the average daily high and low sale prices of the Company's common stock for all trading days during the calendar month preceding the date of the applicable annual meeting of stockholders. Under the NEDSP, NVE granted the following total shares and related compensation to directors during 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively: 49,002, 65,933 and 93,729 shares, and $745,879, $829,077 and $968,229.

CSIP

NVE offers the CSIP for the purpose of promoting long-term ownership by providing a convenient method to purchase shares of our common stock.  New investors can purchase common stock directly from the company for as little as $250 for the first purchase.  Existing shareholders can purchase additional shares up to once per month for as little as $50.   Shareholders can also choose to reinvest all or a portion (specified in increments of 10%) of cash dividends to purchase additional shares of common stock. Shares are purchased on the first business day of each month with the exception of months in which a dividend is paid in which case purchases are scheduled to be made on the date of the dividend payment.  

Dividends

	Dividends declared per share
	2011		2010
First Quarter	$	0.12	$	0.11
Second Quarter	$	0.12	$	0.11
Third Quarter	$	0.12	$	0.11
Fourth Quarter	$	0.13	$	0.12

On February 10, 2012, NVE's BOD declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.13 per share payable on March 21, 2012, to common shareholders of record on March 6, 2011. 

During 2011 and 2010, NPC paid dividends to NVE of $99 million and $74 million, respectively. During 2011 and 2010, SPPC paid dividends to NVE of $114 million and $54 million, respectively. On February 10, 2012, NPC and SPPC declared a$39million and $20 million, respectively, dividend payable to NVE.