Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

Note 13—Shareholders' Equity

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

	Common Stock
	Issued	Treasury Stock
2021:
Balance at January 1, 2021	113,218,183	(9,420,699)
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)
2022:
Grants of restricted stock	—	10,746
Vesting of performance shares	—	66,751
Issuance of common stock due to exercise of stock options	—	1,519,728
Treasury stock acquired	—	(4,424,668)
Retirement of treasury stock	(4,000,000)	4,000,000
Balance at December 31, 2022	105,218,183	(8,478,288)
2023:
Grants of restricted stock	—	7,110
Vesting of performance shares	—	84,298
Issuance of common stock due to exercise of stock options	—	1,375,313
Treasury stock acquired	—	(4,415,287)
Retirement of treasury stock	(3,000,000)	3,000,000
Balance at December 31, 2023	102,218,183	(8,426,854)

There was no activity related to the preferred stock in years 2021 through 2023.

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
2023	3,369	$	380,103	$	112.84	1,080	$	127,155	$	117.72
2022	3,322	335,145		100.90		1,103	119,493		108.33
2021	4,784	455,030		95.11		858	86,405		100.75

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 $460 million in 2023, $407 million in 2022, and $479 million in 2021. As of December 31, 2023, dividends from insurance subsidiaries to the Parent Company available to be paid in 2024 are limited to the amount of $466 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, 2023 were restricted by lenders’ covenants which require the Company to maintain and not distribute $4.3 billion from its total consolidated retained earnings of $7.5 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,
	2023	2022	2021
Basic weighted average shares outstanding	95,098,474	97,927,770	102,069,781
Weighted average dilutive options outstanding	1,265,367	1,056,874	1,100,351
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding	96,363,841	98,984,644	103,170,132
Antidilutive shares	422,739	31,269	2,412,884

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.