Shareholders' Equity

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

8. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

As of June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had authorized 20,000,000 common stock shares with par value of $0.01 per share. At these same dates, the total number of outstanding shares was 10,094,322 and 10,091,822, shares held in Treasury was 59,311 and 61,811, and total shares issued was 10,153,633 for both periods.

During 2019 and 2018, upon approval of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) the Company has made regular quarterly dividend payments, as set forth in the following table:

Dividend Declared			Dividend Paid on or Before
Date	Price Per Share		Date	Amount
June 12, 2019	$	0.28	July 3, 2019*	$	2,826,000
December 13, 2018	$	0.24	January 3, 2019**	$	2,422,000
September 11, 2018	$	0.24	October 2, 2018**	$	2,422,000
June 6, 2018	$	0.24	July 3, 2018**	$	2,422,000
April 10, 2018	$	0.22	April 30, 2018**	$	2,220,000
December 13, 2017	$	0.22	January 3, 2018**	$	2,220,000

The number of shares outstanding during the related dividend period was *10,094,322 and **10,091,822.

In addition to the above dividend amounts, there were dividends approved by the Company’s foreign subsidiary during April 2018, which amounted to an outlay of cash of $491,000 to the foreign subsidiary’s noncontrolling interest, and again in July 2019, with the cash distribution to the noncontrolling interest of $137,000 paid during July 2019.

It should be noted that from time to time, the Board may elect to pay special dividends, in addition to or in lieu of the regular quarterly dividends, depending upon the financial condition of the Company.

The Board approved and granted a total of 2,500 restricted stock unit awards (the “Awards”) to be allocated to the existing non-employee directors of the Company. The Awards were approved by the shareholders’ of the Company at the annual meeting on June 11, 2019, and distributed on June 20, 2019. A Form S-8 registration statement, and the restricted stock unit award agreements, were filed with the SEC on December 13, 2018 (2,000 units) and May 24, 2019 (500 units). The related director compensation cost of approximately $217,000 was recognized during June 2019.

On April 4, 2014, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized an extension of its stock repurchase program without expiration, up to a maximum amount of $1,000,000. The original program established in December 2007 authorized the purchase of up to $5,000,000 of its common stock. The purchases may be made from time-to-time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, depending on market and business conditions. The Board retained the right to cancel, extend, or expand the share buyback program, at any time and from time-to-time. Since inception, the Company has purchased a total of 61,811 shares for approximately $932,000, or approximately $15 per share, which were held as treasury shares. The Company has not made any stock repurchases since 2014; however, as stated above, there were 2,500 shares distributed from treasury to non-employee directors during June 2019.