Note 15 - Dividends and Dividend Equivalents

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Dividends And Dividend Equivalents [Text Block]

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5

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DIVIDENDS AND DIVIDEND EQUIVALENTS

Cash Dividend Program

In

June 2014,

the Board of Directors approved a dividend program pursuant to which the Company intends to pay quarterly cash dividends on its common stock. Based on the Company

’s historical practice, stockholders of record as of the last business day of the quarter are entitled to receive the quarterly cash dividends when and if declared by our Board of Directors, which are payable to the stockholders in the following month. The Board of Directors declared the following cash dividends (in thousands, except per-share amounts): 

	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Dividend declared per share	$	0.20	$	0.20	$	0.40	$	0.40
Total amount declared	$	8,273	$	8,096	$	16,521	$	16,143

As of

June 30, 2017

and

December 31, 2016,

accrued dividends totaled

$8.3

million and

$8.2

million, respectively.

The declaration of any future cash dividends is at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on, among other things, the Company

’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions, statutory requirements of Delaware law, compliance with the terms of any future indebtedness and credit facilities and other factors that the Board of Directors

may

deem relevant, as well as a determination that cash dividends are in the best interests of the stockholders. The Company anticipates that the cash used for future dividends will come from its current domestic cash and cash generated from ongoing U.S. operations. If cash held by the Company’s international subsidiaries is needed for the payment of dividends, the Company

may

be required to accrue and pay U.S. taxes to repatriate the funds. 

Cash Dividend Equivalent Rights

Under the Company

’s stock plans, outstanding RSUs contain rights to receive cash dividend equivalents, which entitle employees who hold RSUs to the same dividend value per share as holders of common stock. The dividend equivalents are accumulated and paid to the employees when the underlying RSUs vest. Dividend equivalents accumulated on the underlying RSUs are forfeited if the employees do

not

fulfill their service requirement and the awards do

not

vest. As of

June 30, 2017

and

December 31, 2016,

accrued dividend equivalents totaled

$5.1

million and

$4.1

million, respectively.