Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

COMMON STOCK [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

Common Stock

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company offered and sold pursuant to its continuous equity placement program (also known as an "at the market" program, or "ATM") through its sales agent, JMP Securities LLC, 409,237 shares of its common stock at an average price of $10.75 in negotiated transactions or transactions that are deemed to be “at the market offerings,” as defined in Rule 415 under the 1933 Act, including sales made directly on the New York Stock Exchange or sales made to or through a market maker other than on an exchange.  The Company received proceeds of $4,332, net of broker sales commission.   During December 2011, the Company amended its Equity Distribution Agreement with JMP Securities LLC to issue and sell up to 8,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had not issued any shares under this amended ATM program. Please refer to Note 16 regarding issuances of the Company's common stock subsequent to December 31, 2011.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company closed a public offering of 9,200,000 shares of its common stock, including 1,200,000 shares pursuant to an overallotment option that was fully exercised by the underwriters, at a public offering price of $10.35 per share for total net proceeds of $90,459 after deduction of underwriting discounts, commissions, and expenses.  The Company has used these proceeds to acquire additional investments consistent with its investment policy.

The Company implemented a Dividend Reinvestment and Share Purchase Plan ("DRIP") in 2011 which allows registered shareholders to automatically reinvest some or all of their quarterly dividends in shares of the Company’s stock and provides an opportunity for investors to purchase shares of the Company’s stock, potentially at a discount to the prevailing market price. During 2011, the Company issued 4,365 shares pursuant to the DRIP for total proceeds of $39.

During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company redeemed each outstanding share of the Company's Series D 9.50% Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Series D Preferred Stock") in exchange for one share of its common stock. as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the Company does not have any outstanding shares of the Series D Preferred Stock.

The following table presents a summary of the changes in the number of common shares outstanding for the periods indicated:

	For the Year Ended
	December 31,
	2011	2010	2009
Balance at beginning of period	30,342,897	13,931,512	12,169,762
Common stock issued under ATM programs	409,237	5,192,816	1,751,750
Common stock issued via public offerings	9,200,000	6,900,000	—
Common stock issued under DRIP	4,365	0	—
Common stock redeemed under 2004 Stock and Incentive Plan	15,000	50,000	—
Common stock issued under 2009 Stock and Incentive Plan	411,031	47,030	10,000
Conversion of preferred stock to common stock	—	4,221,539	—
Balance at end of period	40,382,530	30,342,897	13,931,512

Incentive Plans. Of the 2,500,000 shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the Company's 2009 Stock and Incentive Plan, 2,041,939 shares remain available as of December 31, 2011.  Although the Company is no longer issuing stock-based compensation under its 2004 Stock Incentive Plan, there are stock options, SARs, and restricted stock still outstanding (and exercisable if vested) thereunder as of December 31, 2011.

The Company has not granted any stock options since the year ended December 31, 2008, and the compensation cost related to all stock options has been expensed in prior periods. The following table presents a rollforward of the stock option activity for the periods presented:

	For the Year Ended
	December 31,
	2011				2010				2009
	Quantity		Weighted-Average Price		Quantity		Weighted-Average Price		Quantity		Weighted-Average Price
Stock options outstanding at beginning of period	45,000		$	8.75	95,000		$	8.59	110,000		$	8.61
Stock options forfeited	—		—		—		—		(15,000	)	8.30
Stock options exercised	(15,000	)	7.43		(50,000	)	8.45		—		—
Stock options outstanding at end of period	30,000		$	9.42	45,000		$	8.75	95,000		$	8.59

As of December 31, 2011, the fair value of the Company’s outstanding restricted stock remaining to be amortized into net income is $2,633. The following table presents a rollforward of the restricted stock activity for the periods presented:

	For the Year Ended
	December 31,
	2011		2010		2009
Restricted stock outstanding at beginning of period	25,000		32,500		30,000
Restricted stock granted	358,006		10,000		10,000
Restricted stock vested	(17,500	)	(17,500	)	(7,500	)
Restricted stock outstanding at end of period	365,506		25,000		32,500

As of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the fair value of the Company’s outstanding SARs of $77 and $492, respectively, are recorded as liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet for the respective periods.  The fair value of SARs is estimated using the Black-Scholes option valuation model based upon the assumptions in the table below.

	December 31, 2011		December 31, 2010
Expected volatility	27.9%-37.0%		16.2%-18.6%
Weighted-average volatility	31.7	%	17.3	%
Estimated dividend yield	12.2	%	9.9%-10.3%
Expected term (in months)	10		12
Weighted-average risk-free rate	0.69	%	0.81	%
Range of risk-free rates	0.66%-0.72%		0.4%-1.3%

The following table presents a rollforward of the SARs activity for the periods presented:

	For the Year Ended
	December 31,
	2011				2010				2009
	Quantity		Weighted-Average Price		Quantity		Weighted-Average Price		Quantity	Weighted-Average Price
SARs outstanding at beginning of period	136,875		$	7.31	278,146		$	7.27	278,146	$	7.27
SARs exercised	(77,500	)	7.64		(141,271	)	7.24		—	—
SARs outstanding at end of period	59,375		$	6.87	136,875		$	7.31	278,146	$	7.27

As of December 31, 2011, all of the Company's outstanding SARs are vested and exercisable at a weighted average price of $6.87 at any time prior to their expiration dates.  The weighted average remaining contractual term on these outstanding SARs as of December 31, 2011 is 19 months, and 25,000 of the outstanding SARs are set to expire if they are not exercised on or before December 31, 2012.    

Total stock-based compensation expense recognized by the Company for the year ended December 31, 2011 is $917 compared to $627 and $526 for the years ended December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, respectively.

Additional Paid-In Capital

     The following table presents a rollforward of the Company's changes in additional paid-in capital for the year ended December 31, 2011:

	Additional Paid-In Capital
Balance as of January 1, 2011	$	538,304
Common stock issuances:
DRIP issuances	40
ATM issuances	4,284
Public offerings	90,343
Incentive plans	656
Amortization of restricted stock	1,198
Capitalized expenses	(142		)
Balance as of December 31, 2011	$	634,683

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Accumulated other comprehensive income as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 is comprised of the following items:

	December 31, 2011			December 31, 2010
Available for sale investments:
Unrealized gains	$	36,091		$	20,443
Unrealized losses	(13,902		)	(7,566		)
	22,189			12,877
Hedging instruments:
Unrealized gains	—			692
Unrealized losses	(25,444		)	(3,512		)
	(25,444		)	(2,820		)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	$	(3,255	)	$	10,057

Due to the Company’s REIT status, the items comprising other comprehensive income do not have related tax effects.

Accumulated Deficit

The following table presents a rollforward of the Company's accumulated deficit for the year ended December 31, 2011:

	Accumulated Deficit
Balance as of January 1, 2011	$	(256,307	)
Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2011	10,280
Dividends declared ($0.27 per share) for the quarter ended March 31, 2011	(10,886		)
Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2011	13,594
Dividends declared ($0.27 per share) for the quarter ended June 30, 2011	(10,892		)
Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2011	1,532
Dividends declared ($0.27 per share) for the quarter ended September 30, 2011	(10,903		)
Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2011	14,406
Dividends declared ($0.28 per share) for the quarter ended December 31, 2011	(11,307		)
Balance as of December 31, 2011	$	(260,483	)