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 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:



	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017		2016
Class A Stock outstanding, beginning of period	13,261,095		13,238,486
Issued pursuant to shared-based compensation plans	179,020		265,320
Repurchased and canceled pursuant to the stock buy-back	(257,783	)	(240,274	)
Class A Stock outstanding, end of period	13,182,332		13,263,532

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.

During the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company purchased and canceled an aggregate of 257,783 shares of Class A Stock for a total consideration of $4.4 million ($16.90 per share) under the New Program. As of March 31, 2017, 51,473 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.