Note 8 - Capital Stock

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

NOTE 8. CAPITAL STOCK

Common Stock Issuances

During the six months ended June 30, 2024 and the year ended  December 31, 2023, the Company completed the following public offerings of shares of its common stock.

($ in thousands, except per share amounts)
		Weighted
		Average
		Price
		Received				Net
Type of Offering	Period	Per Share(1)		Shares		Proceeds(2)
2024
At the Market Offering Program(3)	First Quarter	$	8.80		1,490,075	$	13,109
At the Market Offering Program(3)	Second Quarter		8.40		11,990,383		100,698
					13,480,458	$	113,807
2023
At the Market Offering Program(3)	First Quarter	$	11.77		2,690,000	$	31,657
At the Market Offering Program(3)	Second Quarter		9.95		4,757,953		47,355
At the Market Offering Program(3)	Third Quarter		9.54		8,432,086		80,426
At the Market Offering Program(3)	Fourth Quarter		-		-		-
					15,880,039	$	159,438

(1) Weighted average price received per share is after deducting the underwriters’ discount, if applicable, and other offering costs.

(2) Net proceeds are net of the underwriters’ discount, if applicable, and other offering costs.

(3) The Company has entered into eleven equity distribution agreements, ten of which have either been terminated because all shares were sold or were replaced with a subsequent agreement.

Stock Repurchase Program

On July 29, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 400,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. On February 8, 2018, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the stock repurchase program for up to an additional 904,564 shares of the Company's common stock. Coupled with the 156,751 shares remaining from the original 400,000 share authorization, the increased authorization brought the total authorization to 1,061,315 shares, representing 10% of the Company’s then outstanding share count.

On December 9, 2021, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the number of shares of the Company’s common stock available in the stock repurchase program for up to an additional 3,372,399 shares, bringing the remaining authorization under the stock repurchase program to 3,539,861 shares, representing approximately 10% of the Company’s then outstanding shares of common stock.

On October 12, 2022, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the number of shares of the Company’s common stock available in the stock repurchase program for up to an additional 4,300,000 shares, bringing the remaining authorization under the stock repurchase program to 6,183,601 shares, representing approximately 18% of the Company’s then outstanding shares of common stock.

As part of the stock repurchase program, shares may be purchased in open market transactions, block purchases, through privately negotiated transactions, or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Open market repurchases will be made in accordance with Exchange Act Rule 10b-18, which sets certain restrictions on the method, timing, price and volume of open market stock repurchases. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined by the Company in its discretion and will be subject to economic and market conditions, stock price, applicable legal requirements and other factors. The authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock and the program may be suspended or discontinued at the Company’s discretion without prior notice. The stock repurchase program has no termination date.

From the inception of the stock repurchase program through June 30, 2024, the Company repurchased a total of 5,081,134 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $77.0 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of $15.16 per share. During the six months ended June 30, 2024, the Company repurchased a total of 332,773 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $2.8 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of $8.35 per share.  During the year ended  December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased a total of 1,072,789 shares at an aggregate cost of approximately $9.4 million, including commissions and fees, for a weighted average price of $8.79 per share. The remaining authorization under the stock repurchase program as of  July 25, 2024 was 3,895,829 shares.

Cash Dividends

The table below presents the cash dividends declared on the Company’s common stock.

(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Year	Per Share Amount		Total
2013	$	6.975	$	4,662
2014		10.800		22,643
2015		9.600		38,748
2016		8.400		41,388
2017		8.400		70,717
2018		5.350		55,814
2019		4.800		54,421
2020		3.950		53,570
2021		3.900		97,601
2022		2.475		87,906
2023		1.800		81,127
2024 - YTD(1)		0.840		49,001
Totals	$	67.290	$	657,598

(1) On July 10, 2024, the Company declared a dividend of $0.12 per share to be paid on August 29, 2024. The effect of this dividend is included in the table above but is not reflected in the Company’s financial statements as of June 30, 2024.