COMMON STOCK

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Common Stock [Abstract]

COMMON STOCK

COMMON STOCK:

The following shares were issued and outstanding at December 31 (See Note 1):

	2016	2015	2014
Beginning of Year	70,965,622	68,334,860	65,430,084
New Issues During Year:
Dividend Reinvestment Plan	417,095	2,604,424	2,881,556
Stock-Based Compensation Plan	45,338	26,338	23,220
Public Equity Offering	8,050,000	—	—
End of Year	79,478,055	70,965,622	68,334,860

The par value ($1.25 per share) of stock issued was recorded in Common Stock and the net excess over par value at December 31, 2016 of approximately $207.5 million was recorded in Premium on Common Stock.

In May 2016, the Company issued and sold 8,050,000 shares of its common stock, par value $1.25 per share pursuant to a public offering, raising net proceeds of approximately $203.6 million. The net proceeds from this offering were or will be used for capital expenditures, primarily for regulated businesses, including infrastructure investments at its utility business.

EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE (EPS) — Basic EPS is based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding.  The incremental shares required for inclusion in the denominator for the diluted EPS calculation were 112,590, 195,139, and 150,062 shares for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. These shares relate to SJI’s restricted stock as discussed in Note 2.

DIVIDENDS PER SHARE - Dividends per share were $1.07, $1.02 and $0.96 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN (DRP) — The Company offered a DRP which allowed participating shareholders to purchase shares of SJI common stock by automatic reinvestment of dividends or optional purchases, prior to May 1, 2016. Shares of common stock offered by the DRP had been issued directly by SJI from its authorized but unissued shares of common stock. The Company raised $10.8 million and $63.2 million of equity capital through the DRP in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Effective May 1, 2016, SJI switched to purchasing shares on the open market to fund share purchases by DRP participants. SJI does not intend to issue any more new equity capital via the DRP in 2017.