SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

Preferred Stock

The Company has 2,300,000 shares of its 8.50% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and 2,250,000 shares of its 7.625% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2014 (collectively, the "Preferred Stock"). The Preferred Stock has no maturity and will remain outstanding indefinitely unless redeemed or otherwise repurchased or converted into common stock pursuant to the terms of the Preferred Stock. Except under certain limited circumstances intended to preserve the Company's REIT status, upon the occurrence of a change in control as defined in Article IIIA, Section 7(d) of the Company’s Articles of Incorporation, or to avoid the direct or indirect imposition of a penalty tax in respect of, or to protect the tax status of, any of the Company’s real estate mortgage investment conduits (“REMIC”) interests or a REMIC in which the Company may acquire an interest (as permitted by the Company’s Articles of Incorporation), the Company may not redeem the Series A Preferred Stock prior to July 31, 2017 or the Series B Preferred Stock prior to April 30, 2018. On or after these dates, at any time and from time to time, the Preferred Stock may be redeemed in whole, or in part, at the Company's option at a cash redemption price of $25.00 per share plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends. The Series A Preferred Stock pays a cumulative cash dividend equivalent to 8.50% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share each year and the Series B Preferred Stock pays a cumulative cash dividend equivalent to 7.625% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share each year. Because the Preferred Stock is redeemable only at the option of the issuer, it is classified as equity on the Company's consolidated balance sheet. The Company announced that it will pay its regular quarterly dividends on its Preferred Stock for the fourth quarter on January 15, 2015 to shareholders of record as of January 1, 2015.

Common Stock

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



	Year Ended
	December 31,
	2014		2013
Balance as of beginning of period	54,310,484		54,268,915
Common stock issued under DRIP	16,753		515,257
Common stock issued under ATM program	—		180,986
Common stock issued or redeemed under stock and incentive plans	471,210		270,158
Common stock forfeited for tax withholding on share-based compensation	(59,336	)	(52,385	)
Common stock repurchased during the period	—		(872,447	)
Balance as of end of period	54,739,111		54,310,484

The Company had 7,416,520 shares of common stock that remain available to offer and sell through its sales agent, JMP Securities LLC, under its "at the market", or "ATM" program, as of December 31, 2014.

The Company's Dividend Reinvestment and Share Purchase Plan ("DRIP") allows registered shareholders to automatically reinvest some or all of their quarterly common stock dividends in shares of the Company’s common stock and provides an opportunity for investors to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock, potentially at a discount to the prevailing market price. Of the 3,000,000 shares reserved for issuance under the Company's DRIP, there were 2,450,145 shares remaining for issuance as of December 31, 2014. The Company declared a fourth quarter common stock dividend of $0.25 per share payable on January 31, 2015 to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2014. There was no discount for shares purchased through the DRIP during the fourth quarter of 2014.

In December 2014, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $50,000 of its common stock through December 31, 2016. This new repurchase authorization replaces the Company's prior share repurchase program which was to expire on December 31, 2014.

2009 Stock and Incentive Plan. Of the 2,500,000 shares of common stock authorized for issuance under its 2009 Stock and Incentive Plan, the Company had 1,078,908 available for issuance as of December 31, 2014. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized by the Company for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $2,719 compared to $2,354 for the year ended December 31, 2013.

The following table presents a rollforward of the restricted stock activity for the periods indicated:



	Year Ended
	December 31,
	2014		2013
Restricted stock outstanding as of beginning of period	520,969		448,283
Restricted stock granted	457,538		255,158
Restricted stock vested	(246,698	)	(182,472	)
Restricted stock outstanding as of end of period	731,809		520,969

The combined grant date fair value of the restricted stock issued by the Company for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $3,703 compared to $2,708 for the year ended December 31, 2013. The following table presents the amortization schedule for the Company's non-vested restricted stock remaining to be amortized into compensation expense as of December 31, 2014:



	Restricted Stock Amortization To Be Recognized
Within 12 months	$	2,265
13-24 months	1,452
25-36 months	541
37-48 months	36
Total restricted stock amortization remaining	$	4,294