Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

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STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
NOTE 6.               STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

During the three months ended March 31, 2017 the Company paid $25.0 million or $0.115 per share in cash dividends compared to $21.9 million or $0.10 per share during the same period in 2016.

The Company did not repurchase shares of its common stock from the open market during the first three months of 2017 compared to the repurchase of approximately 54,000 shares at a weighted average price of $24.77 during the first three months of 2016.

The Company repurchased $7.5 million and $7.4 million of common stock for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, from employees for the payment of taxes on vesting restricted shares.

As more fully discussed in Note 15 of the Company’s notes to the consolidated financial statements in its 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K, stock options, time lapse restricted shares (TLRS’s) and restricted stock units have been issued to officers and other management employees under the Company’s Employee Stock Incentive Plans.  The Company issues new shares from its authorized but unissued share pool. At March 31, 2017, approximately 4.3 million shares of the Company’s common stock were reserved for issuance.

Time Lapse Restricted Shares and Restricted Stock Units

The following table summarizes the components of the Company’s stock-based compensation programs recorded as expense:

 

    Three Months Ended  
    March 31,  
(in thousands)   2017     2016  
Time lapse restricted stock:                
Pre-tax compensation expense   $ 3,267     $ 3,325  
Tax benefit     (1,264 )     (1,287 )
Restricted stock expense, net of tax   $ 2,003     $ 2,038  

 

The Company adopted the amendments of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-09, Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting during its first quarter of 2017. Accordingly, the Company did not recognize a deferred tax benefit for the first quarter of 2017. A deferred tax benefit of $3.0 million was recognized during the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2016 and a deferred tax benefit of approximately $3.7 million was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2016, related to the vesting of restricted shares which have been recorded as increases to paid-in capital.

The following table summarizes information on unvested restricted stock outstanding as of March 31, 2017:

 

 

    Number of
Shares 		    Weighted-Average
Grant-Date Fair
Value 		 
Unvested Restricted Stock Units at December 31, 2016     2,261     $ 20.21  
Forfeited     (13 )     22.03  
Vested     (626 )     16.87  
Granted     448       33.80  
Unvested Restricted Stock Units at March 31, 2017     2,070     $ 24.15  

 

  

At March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had $41.6 million and $29.9 million of total unrecognized compensation cost, respectively, related to time-lapse restricted shares that are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 4.1 years and 3.8 years, respectively.