Share capital

The Company's authorized share capital consists of (a) 50,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share; (b) 50,000,000 shares of Class A Stock, par value $0.001 per share; and (c) 99,665 shares of Class B voting common stock ("Class B Stock"), par value $0.001 per share. No Preferred Stock has been issued. 99,665 shares of Class B Stock have been issued and are outstanding.

The Class A Stock and the Class B Stock are equal in all respects except that the Class A Stock is non-voting.

The following table reflects changes in the number of shares of Class A Stock outstanding for the periods indicated:



	2016		2015
Class A Stock outstanding, beginning of year	13,238,486		13,530,688
Issued pursuant to shared-based compensation plans (Note 15)	283,471		131,524
Repurchased and canceled pursuant to the stock buy-back	(260,862	)	(423,726	)
Class A Stock outstanding, end of year	13,261,095		13,238,486

Stock buy-back

On September 15, 2015, the Company announced that its board of directors approved a share repurchase program that authorizes the Company to purchase up to 665,000 shares of the Company's Class A Stock, representing approximately 5% of its 13,348,369 then issued and outstanding shares of Class A Stock ("New Program"). This authorization replaces the share repurchase program covering up to 675,000 shares of the Company's Class A Stock, which was announced on October 7, 2011 ("Previous Program"), pursuant to which 322,177 shares of the Company's Class A Stock were repurchased and canceled prior to December 31, 2014. During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company purchased and canceled an additional 328,844 shares of Class A Stock for a total consideration of $6.6 million ($20.12 per share) under the Previous Program. The 23,979 remaining shares available under the Previous Program have been replaced by the shares available under the New Program. During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company purchased and canceled an aggregate of 94,882 shares of Class A Stock for a total consideration of $1.6 million ($17.20 per share) under the New Program.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company purchased and canceled an aggregate of 260,862 shares of Class A Stock for a total consideration of $3.9 million ($15.09 per share) under the New Program. As of December 31, 2016, 309,256 shares were available to be purchased under the New Program.

Any such share purchases will be made by the Company from time to time in the open market at the prevailing open market price using cash on hand, in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of the New York Stock Exchange and federal and state securities laws and the terms of the Company's senior secured debt. All shares purchased will be canceled. The share repurchase program is expected to continue indefinitely. The timing and amounts of any purchases will be based on market conditions and other factors including price, regulatory requirements and capital availability. The share repurchase program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any dollar amount or number of Class A non-voting common shares. Depending on market conditions and other factors, these repurchases may be commenced or suspended from time to time without prior notice.

Dividends

The Company paid cash dividends of $0.44 per share to holders of Class A and Class B Stock in 2016, 2015 and 2014.