Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

19. Stockholders' Equity

The Company has the authority to issue up to 100,000 shares of $100 par preferred stock and up to 500,000,000 shares of $1.00 par common stock. There were no issuances of preferred stock. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company issued 256,992,261 and 256,537,535 shares of common stock and had 102,168,868 and 101,109,186 treasury shares, held at cost, respectively.

Share Repurchases

In January 2015, the Board of Directors approved a new standing share repurchase authorization, whereby the Company could repurchase up to 15,000,000 shares of its common stock over the following three years. This plan replaced all previously authorized repurchase programs. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2015, the Company purchased 1,059,682 and 8,228,542 shares of its common stock under this authorization at a total cost of $105,023 and $600,164, or $99.11 and $72.94 per share, respectively. The Company did not purchase any shares under this program in 2016. As of December 31, 2017, the number of shares available for repurchase under the January 2015 share repurchase authorization was 5,711,776.