8. Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit):

Dividends

On January 25, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a $0.10 per share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 8, 2017, which was paid on March 1, 2017.

On April 26, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a $0.11 per share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 10, 2017, which was paid on June 1, 2017.

On July 26, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a $0.11 per share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 9, 2017, which was paid on September 1, 2017.

Repurchase of Common Stock

In July 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 400,000 shares of our common stock for a price of $124.48 per share through a tender offer (the “Tender Offer”). The Tender Offer began on the date of the announcement, July 19, 2017 and expired on August 16, 2017. Upon expiration, the Company accepted for payment 400,000 shares for a total purchase price of approximately $49.9 million, including fees and expenses related to the Tender Offer.

Under a previous Board of Directors’ authorization, as of September 30, 2017, the Company has the ability to repurchase an additional 142,988 shares of its common stock. Repurchases may be made from time to time at prevailing prices, subject to certain restrictions on volume, pricing and timing.

Stock Option Plans and Stock-Based Compensation

The Company had authorized up to 750,000 shares of common stock be reserved for granting either nonqualified or incentive stock options to officers and key employees under the Company’s 2001 Stock Option Plan (the “2001 Plan”). The 2001 Plan expired on February 20, 2011. At the April 26, 2017 Annual Shareholders meeting, the Company’s shareholders approved an increase in the shares of common stock available for granting either nonqualified or incentive stock options to officers and key employees under the Company’s 2010 Stock Option Plan (the “2010 Plan”) by 200,000 shares, from 500,000 to 700,000.

The Company also sponsors a Stock Option Plan for Nonemployee Directors (the “Nonemployee Directors Plan”) and has reserved a total of 350,000 shares for issuance to directors of the Company who are not employees.

Stock option activity under the 2001 Plan, 2010 Plan and Nonemployee Directors Plan (collectively, the “Option Plans”) as of September 30, 2017 was as follows:


				Weighted Average
				Remaining
	Number of	Weighted Average		Contractual Life
	Shares	Exercise Price		(years)		Intrinsic Value
Outstanding, December 31, 2016	673,670	$	62.11	6.11	$	43,139,100
Granted	36,000		122.19
Exercised	(58,686)		28.96
Forfeited	(4,750)		95.28
Outstanding, September 30, 2017	646,234	$	68.23	5.84	$	41,050,600
Exercisable, September 30, 2017	456,953	$	54.68	4.82	$	35,215,600

The fair value of options granted under the Option Plans during the first nine months of 2017 and 2016 were estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions and results:


	Nine Months Ended
	September 30, 2017			September 24, 2016
Risk free interest rate		1.90	%		1.52	%
Expected life (years)		6			6
Expected volatility		26.93	%		27.10	%
Dividend yield		1.14	%		1.38	%
Option fair value	$	31.38		$	23.78

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, options holders surrendered 2,927 shares of previously owned common shares as payment for option shares exercised as provided for by the Option Plans. All unexercised options at September 30, 2017 have an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant.

Compensation expense of $1,462,500 and $1,324,400 relating to the vested portion of the fair value of stock options granted was expensed to “Selling, General and Administrative Expenses” in the first nine months of 2017 and 2016, respectively. As of September 30, 2017, the Company had $3.8 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options that is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average vesting period of approximately 2.3 years.

A reconciliation of common shares outstanding and total equity (deficit) from December 31, 2016 to September 30, 2017 is as follows:


	Common		Total Equity
	Shares		(Deficit)
BALANCE, December 31, 2016	4,165,769	$	(7,852,000)
Repurchase of common stock	(400,000)		(49,904,100)
Stock options exercised, net of shares surrendered	55,759		1,329,200
Compensation expense relating to stock options	—		1,462,500
Cash dividends	—		(1,343,800)
Comprehensive income	—		16,918,500
BALANCE, September 30, 2017	3,821,528	$	(39,389,700)