Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

Note 12—Shareholders' Equity

Share Data: A summary of common share activity is presented in the following chart.

	Common Stock
	Issued	Treasury Stock
2019:
Balance at January 1, 2019	121,218,183	(10,525,147)
Grants of restricted stock	—	8,840
Vesting of performance shares	—	311,399
Issuance of common stock due to exercise of stock options	—	1,810,559
Treasury stock acquired	—	(5,103,591)
Retirement of treasury stock	(4,000,000)	4,000,000
Balance at December 31, 2019	117,218,183	(9,497,940)
2020:
Grants of restricted stock	—	4,548
Vesting of performance shares	—	271,843
Issuance of common stock due to exercise of stock options	—	936,289
Treasury stock acquired	—	(5,135,439)
Retirement of treasury stock	(4,000,000)	4,000,000
Balance at December 31, 2020	113,218,183	(9,420,699)
2021:
Grants of restricted stock	—	10,031
Vesting of performance shares	—	210,155
Issuance of common stock due to exercise of stock options	—	1,191,704
Treasury stock acquired	—	(5,642,036)
Retirement of treasury stock	(4,000,000)	4,000,000
Balance at December 31, 2021	109,218,183	(9,650,845)

There was no activity related to the preferred stock in years 2019 through 2021.

Acquisition of Common Shares: Globe Life shares are acquired through open market purchases under the Globe Life stock repurchase program when it is determined to be the best use of Globe Life's excess cash flows. This yields a return that is better than available alternatives and exceeds our cost of equity. When stock options are exercised, proceeds from the exercises are generally used to repurchase approximately the number of shares available with those funds in order to reduce dilution. See the following summary below:

	Globe Life Share Repurchase Program					Share Repurchase for Dilution Purposes
	Shares Acquired (in thousands)	Total Cost		Average Price		Shares Acquired (in thousands)	Total Cost		Average Price
2021	4,784	$	455,030	$	95.11	858	$	86,405	$	100.75
2020	4,459	380,112		85.24		676	63,754		94.28
2019	3,932	350,080		89.04		1,209	109,489		90.52

Restrictions: Restrictions exist on the flow of funds to Globe Life Inc. from its insurance subsidiaries. Statutory regulations require life insurance subsidiaries to maintain certain minimum amounts of capital and surplus. Dividends from insurance subsidiaries of Globe Life Inc. are restricted based on regulations by their states of domicile. Additionally, insurance company distributions are generally not permitted in excess of statutory surplus. Subsidiaries are also subject to certain minimum capital requirements. Subsidiaries of Globe Life paid cash dividends to the Parent Company in the amount of $479 million in 2021, $486 million in 2020, and $480 million in 2019. As of December 31, 2021, dividends from insurance subsidiaries to the Parent Company available to be paid in 2022 are limited to the amount of $347 million without regulatory approval, such that $1.2 billion was considered restricted net assets of the subsidiaries. Dividends exceeding these limitations may be available during the year pending regulatory approval. While there are no legal restrictions on the payment of dividends to shareholders from Globe Life's retained earnings, retained earnings as of December 31, 2021, were restricted by lenders’ covenants which require the Company to maintain and not distribute $4.3 billion from its total consolidated retained earnings of $6.2 billion.

Earnings per Share: A reconciliation of basic and diluted weighted-average shares outstanding used in the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021	2020	2019
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	102,069,781	106,075,267	109,213,524
Weighted average dilutive options outstanding	1,100,351	1,149,327	2,167,726
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	103,170,132	107,224,594	111,381,250
Antidilutive shares	2,412,884	2,476,019	21,556

Antidilutive shares are excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share. All antidilutive shares noted above result from outstanding out of the money employee and Director stock options.