8. Shareholders' Equity

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Notes

8. Shareholders' Equity

8. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

As of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, the Company had authorized 20,000,000 common stock shares with par value of $0.01 per share.  At both dates, the number of shares issued was 10,153,633, and the total number of outstanding shares was 10,091,822, with the 61,811 variance representing shares held in Treasury.

On December 10, 2014, the Board declared a special dividend of $0.49 per share to all Shareholders of record as of December 22, 2014, which was paid on January 5, 2015, in the amount of $4,945,000. Additionally, there was a dividend that was paid during 2014 by the Company’s UK subsidiary, which amounted to an outlay of cash of $145,000 to the subsidiary’s noncontrolling interest.

On December 9, 2013, the Board declared a special dividend of $0.425 per share to all Shareholders of record as of December 19, 2013, and payable on or before January 2, 2014. The Company paid its transfer agent $4,289,000 on December 31, 2013, and the transfer agent paid the shareholders on January 2, 2014.

On April 11, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized an extension, for another 24 months, of the stock purchase program previously announced on September 12, 2007 and extended on September 15, 2009, April 5, 2011, April 4, 2012 and April 1, 2014.  The original program permitted a purchase of up to $5,000,000 of the Company’s common stock depending on market and business conditions.  Since the program began, the Company has purchased 61,811 shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $923,000, leaving a balance of approximately $4,077,000 available to purchase additional shares of its common stock within the next 24 months. Stock purchases may be made using various types of transactions, including open-market purchases or transactions off the market, and may be made under Rule 10b5-1 trading programs. The timing of stock purchases, type of transaction and number of shares purchased will depend on a number of factors, including market conditions, the price of the Company’s common stock, and the Company’s capital position, its financial performance and investment opportunities.