Equity and Capital

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Equity and Capital [Abstract]

Equity and Capital

Equity and Capital

Preferred Stock of the Parent Company

Terms and conditions of the preferred stock outstanding are summarized as follows:

	Preferred Stock Outstanding as of December 31, 2016 and 2015
	Date of Issuance	Shares Issued and Outstanding	Liquidation Preference		Distribution Rate	Callable By Company
Series 6	2/16/2012	10,000,000	$	250,000,000	6.625%	2/16/2017
Series 7	8/23/2012	3,000,000	75,000,000		6.000%	8/23/2017
		13,000,000	$	325,000,000

The Series 6 and 7 preferred shares are perpetual, absent a change in control of the Parent Company, are not convertible into common stock of the Parent Company, and are redeemable at par upon the Company’s election beginning 5 years after the issuance date. None of the terms of the preferred stock contain any unconditional obligations that would require the Company to redeem the securities at any time or for any purpose.

Preferred Shares Redemption - Subsequent Event

Subsequent to December 31, 2016, on February 16, 2017, the Parent Company redeemed all of the issued and outstanding 6.625%Series 6 cumulative redeemable preferred shares. The redemption price of $25.21 per share includes accrued and unpaid dividends, resulting in an aggregate amount being paid of $252.0 million. The funds use to redeem the Series 6 preferred shares were provided by the senior unsecured debt offering done in January 2017, as discussed in note 6.

Common Stock of the Parent Company

Issuances:

At the Market ("ATM") Program

Under the Parent Company's March 2014 prospectus supplement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to an ATM equity offering program, the Parent Company may sell up to $200.0 million of common stock at prices determined by the market at the time of sale. As of December 31, 2016, $70.8 million in common stock remained available for issuance under this ATM equity program.

The following table presents the shares that were issued under the ATM equity program, which was used to fund investment activities:

	Year ended December 31,
(dollar amounts are in thousands, except price per share data)	2016		2015
Shares issued (1)	182,787		189,266
Weighted average price per share	$	68.85	67.86
Gross proceeds	$	12,584	12,843
Commissions	$	157	161
Issuance costs	$	97	—
(1) Reflects shares traded in December and settled in January each year.

Forward Equity Offering

In March 2016, the Parent Company entered into a forward sale agreement (the "Forward Equity Offering") to issue 3.10 million shares of its common stock at an offering price of $75.25 per share, before any underwriting discount and offering expenses.

In June 2016, the Parent Company partially settled its forward equity offering by delivering 1.85 million shares of newly issued common stock, receiving $137.5 million of net proceeds, which were used to repay the Line.

The remaining 1.25 million shares must be settled under the forward sale agreement prior to June 23, 2017.

Equity Offering

In July 2016, the Parent Company issued 5.0 million shares of common stock at $79.78 per share resulting in net proceeds of $400.1 million, used to (i) redeem, in August, $300 million of notes, including a make-whole payment, (ii) settle forward interest rate swaps, and (iii) fund investment activities and general corporate purposes.

Tax Status of Dividends

The following table summarizes the tax status of dividends paid on our common shares:

	Year ended December 31,
	2016	2015	2014
Dividend per share	$2.00	1.94	1.88
Ordinary income	53%	71%	70%
Capital gain	8%	5%	16%
Return of capital	39%	19%	14%
Qualified dividend income	—%	5%	—%

Preferred Units of the Operating Partnership

Preferred units for the Parent Company are outstanding in relation to the Parent Company's preferred stock, as discussed above.

Common Units of the Operating Partnership

Issuances:

Common units were issued to the Parent Company in relation to the Parent Company's issuance of common stock, as discussed above.

General Partners

The Parent Company, as general partner, owned the following Partnership Units outstanding:

	December 31,
(in thousands)	2016	2015
Partnership units owned by the general partner	104,497	97,213
Partnership units owned by the limited partners	154	154
Total partnership units outstanding	104,651	97,367
Percentage of partnership units owned by the general partner	99.9%	99.8%

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The following table presents changes in the balances of each component of AOCI:

	Controlling Interest							Noncontrolling Interest						Total
(in thousands)	Cash Flow Hedges			Unrealized gain (loss) on Available-For-Sale Securities		AOCI		Cash Flow Hedges		Unrealized gain (loss) on Available-For-Sale Securities		AOCI		AOCI
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	(17,404	)	—		(17,404	)	(479	)	—		(479	)	(17,883	)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications	(49,524		)	7,752		(41,772	)	(444	)	13		(431	)	(42,203	)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	9,180			(7,752	)	1,428		173		(13	)	160		1,588
Current period other comprehensive income, net	(40,344		)	—		(40,344	)	(271	)	—		(271	)	(40,615	)
Balance as of December 31, 2014	$	(57,748	)	—		(57,748	)	(750	)	—		(750	)	(58,498	)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications	(9,897		)	(43	)	(9,940	)	(192	)	—		(192	)	(10,132	)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	8,995			—		8,995		157		—		157		9,152
Current period other comprehensive income, net	(902		)	(43	)	(945	)	(35	)	—		(35	)	(980	)
Balance as of December 31, 2015	$	(58,650	)	(43	)	(58,693	)	(785	)	—		(785	)	(59,478	)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications	(10,587		)	24		(10,563	)	255		—		255		(10,308	)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income	50,910			—		50,910		229		—		229		51,139
Current period other comprehensive income, net	40,323			24		40,347		484		—		484		40,831
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	(18,327	)	(19	)	(18,346	)	(301	)	—		(301	)	(18,647	)

The following represents amounts reclassified out of AOCI into income:

AOCI Component	Amount Reclassified from AOCI into Income					Affected Line Item (s) Where Net Income is Presented
	Year ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2016		2015	2014
Interest rate swaps	$	51,139	9,152	9,353		Interest expense and Loss on derivative instruments
Realized gains on sale of available-for-sale securities	—		—	(7,765	)	Net investment (income) loss