Note 8 - Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Notes to Financial Statements

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

(8)

         

Stockholders’ Equity

Class A and Class B Common Stock

The shares of Class A common stock are not convertible into any other series or class of our securities. Each share of Class B common stock, however, is freely convertible into

one

share of Class A common stock at the option of the holder of the Class B common stock. All shares of Class B common stock shall automatically convert to shares of Class A common stock (on a share-for-share basis, subject to adjustment) on the earliest record date for an annual meeting of our stockholders on which the number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding is less than

1%

of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock

may

not be transferred to

third

parties, except for transfers to certain family members and in other limited circumstances.

Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to

one

vote for each share held of record and holders of Class B common stock are entitled to

ten

votes for each share held of record. The Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to shareholders.

Repurchases

of Class A Common Stock

Repurchases of our Class A Common Stock occurred under repurchase authorizations granted by our Board of Directors and related to shares withheld as part of the vesting of restricted stock units ("RSUs").

In

August

2011,

our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to

2

million shares of our Class A common stock and, on

July

20,

2012,

our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of

1

million additional shares of our Class A common stock. Effective

February

29,

2016,

our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to

$250

million of our Class A common stock. This authorization replaced the existing authorizations, increasing the total and establishing a maximum dollar rather than share amount.

Share repurchases under our authorizations were as follows:

	Repurchases Occurring in 2016				Cumulative Repurchases as of December 31, 2016
	Shares		Average Price		Shares		Average Price
2011 Share Repurchase Authorization		599,123	$	79.21		2,327,636	$	51.09
2016 Share Repurchase Authorization		713,725	$	79.74		713,725	$	79.74

As of

December

 

31,

2016,

we had

$193.1

million available for repurchases pursuant to our

2016

share repurchase authorization.

In addition, during

2016,

we repurchased

94,826

shares at an average price of

$90.46

per share, for a total of

$8.6

million, related to tax withholdings associated with the vesting of RSUs. The repurchase of shares related to tax withholdings associated with stock awards does not reduce the number of shares available for repurchase as approved by our Board of Directors.

The following is a summary of our repurchases in the years ended

December

 

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014:

Year Ended December 31,	2016		2015		2014
Shares repurchased pursuant to repurchase authorizations		1,312,848		228,737		226,729
Total purchase price (in thousands)	$	104,370	$	24,676	$	15,990
Average purchase price per share	$	79.50	$	107.88	$	70.52
Shares repurchased in association with tax withholdings on the vesting of RSUs		94,826		77,649		106,772

Dividends

We declared and paid dividends on our Class A and Class B Common Stock as follows:

Quarter declared	Dividend amount per Class A and Class B share		Total amount of dividend (in thousands)
2014
First quarter	$	0.13	$	3,378
Second quarter		0.16		4,179
Third quarter		0.16		4,174
Fourth quarter		0.16		4,198
2015
First quarter	$	0.16	$	4,216
Second quarter		0.20		5,266
Third quarter		0.20		5,257
Fourth quarter		0.20		5,246
2016
First quarter	$	0.20	$	5,151
Second quarter		0.25		6,373
Third quarter		0.25		6,299
Fourth quarter		0.25		6,308

Reclassification From Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss was as follows (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,	2016			2015			2014			Affected Line Item in the Consolidated Statement of Operations
Loss on cash flow hedges	$	(219	)	$	(449	)	$	(488	)	Floor plan interest expense
Income tax benefits		85			174			187		Income tax provision
Loss on cash flow hedges, net	$	(134	)	$	(275	)	$	(301	)

See Note

11

for more details regarding our derivative contracts.