Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Shareholders’ Equity

Classes of Common Stock

The Company's common stock is divided into two classes. The Class B common stock has ten votes per share and the Class A common stock has one vote per share on all matters to be voted on by the Company's shareholders. Each Class B share is convertible at any time at the holder's option into one Class A share. With the exception of the voting rights and the conversion feature, the Class A and Class B shares are identical in terms of other rights, including dividend and liquidation rights.

Stock Repurchases

The Company has a stock repurchase program that expires on May 25, 2019 in which it can repurchase up to five million shares of its Class A common stock on the open market, through private transactions, or otherwise. As of December 31, 2017, 3.1 million shares may still be purchased under the Company's stock repurchase program. Shares repurchased by the Company during 2017, 2016, and 2015 are shown in the table below.



	Total shares repurchased	Purchase price (in thousands)		Average price of shares repurchased (per share)
Year ended December 31, 2017	1,473,054	$	68,896	$	46.77
Year ended December 31, 2016	2,038,368	69,091		33.90
Year ended December 31, 2015	2,449,159	96,169		39.27