Equity

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company's charter had authorized for issuance a total of 280,000,000 shares of common stock and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company:


i.	issued 40,534 shares of common stock in connection with stock options exercised;


ii.	issued 2,272 common shares through the Company's dividend reinvestment plan;


iii.	issued 187,010 common shares in connection with restricted stock grants and the conversion of performance awards to restricted shares;


iv.	issued 244,924 shares under CEP IV, as discussed below;


v.	withheld 68,565 common shares to satisfy employees' tax withholding and other liabilities;


vi.	issued 12,955 shares through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan; and


vii.	canceled 4,860 shares of restricted stock upon forfeiture.

Any deferred compensation related to the Company’s stock option, restricted stock and performance award grants during the year ended December 31, 2018 is not reflected on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018, and will not be reflected until recognized as compensation cost.

In December 2015, the Company commenced a fourth continuous equity program (“CEP IV”) under which the Company may sell (and/or enter into forward agreements for) up to $1,000,000,000 of its common stock from time to time. Actual sales will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by the Company, including market conditions, the trading price of the Company's common stock and determinations by the Company of the appropriate sources of funding for the Company. In conjunction with CEP IV, the Company engaged sales agents who will receive compensation of up to 2.0% of the gross sales price for shares sold. The Company expects that, if entered into, it will physically settle each forward sale agreement on one or more dates specified by the Company on or prior to the maturity date of that particular forward sale agreement, in which case the Company will expect to receive aggregate net cash proceeds at settlement equal to the number of shares underlying the particular forward agreement multiplied by the relevant forward sale price. However, the Company may also elect to cash settle or net share settle a forward sale agreement. In connection with each forward sale agreement, the Company will pay the relevant forward seller, in the form of a reduced initial forward sale price, commission of up to 2.0% of the sales prices of all borrowed shares of common stock sold. As of December 31, 2018, there are no outstanding forward sales agreements. In 2018, the Company sold 244,924 shares at an average sales price of $189.14 per share, for net proceeds of $45,629,000. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $846,591,000 of shares remaining authorized for issuance under this program.