Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Equity [Abstract]

Equity

Equity

The Company depends on earnings and dividends from its subsidiaries to pay dividends on common stock. The Company has paid quarterly dividends for 86 consecutive years. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, dividends declared on common stock were $.6950, $.8750 and $.8550 per common share, respectively. Dividends on common stock are paid quarterly to the stockholders of record less than 30 days prior to the distribution date. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the dividends declared to common stockholders were $141.5 million, $177.9 million and $173.0 million, respectively.

The declaration and payment of dividends of the Company is at the sole discretion of the board of directors. In addition, the Company's subsidiaries are generally restricted to paying dividends out of capital accounts or net assets. The following discusses the most restrictive limitations.

Certain credit agreements and regulatory limitations of the Company's subsidiaries also contain restrictions on dividend payments. The most restrictive limitation requires the Company's subsidiaries not to permit the ratio of funded debt to capitalization to be greater than 65 percent. Based on this limitation, approximately $1.3 billion of the net assets of the Company's subsidiaries, which represents common stockholders' equity including retained earnings, would be restricted from use for dividend payments at December 31, 2023.

The Company may sell any combination of common stock and debt securities if warranted by market conditions and the Company's capital requirements. Any public offer and sale of such securities will be made only by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

In August 2020, the Company amended the Distribution Agreement dated February 22, 2019, with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and MUFG Securities Americas Inc., as sales agents. This agreement, as amended, allows the offering, issuance and sale of up to 6.4 million shares of the Company's common stock in connection with an “at-the-market” offering. On August 10, 2023, the Company terminated the distribution agreement. Prior to the termination, the Company had capacity to issue up to 3.6 million additional shares of common stock under the "at-the-market" offering program. The Company was not subject to any termination penalties related to the termination of the distribution agreement.

The Company had no issuances of shares under the "at-the-market" offering program for both the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

The K-Plan provides participants the option to invest in the Company's common stock. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the K-Plan purchased shares of common stock on the open market or issued original issue common stock of the Company. At December 31, 2023, there were 7.2 million shares of common stock reserved for original issuance under the K-Plan.

The Company currently has 2.0 million shares of preferred stock authorized to be issued with a $100 par value. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no shares outstanding.