Shareholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AND SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

Preferred Stock

The Company's articles of incorporation authorize the issuance of up to 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, of which the Company's Board of Directors has designated 8,000,000 shares of 8.50% Series A Preferred Stock and 7,000,000 shares of 7.625% Series B Preferred Stock, (the Series A Preferred Stock and the Series B Preferred Stock collectively, the "Preferred Stock"). The Company had 2,300,000 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock and 2,597,138 shares of its Series B Preferred Stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2017 compared to 2,300,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 2,271,937 shares of Series B Preferred Stock as of December 31, 2016.

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, 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. 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 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. The Company announced that it will pay its regular quarterly dividends on its Preferred Stock for the first quarter on April 15, 2017 to shareholders of record as of April 1, 2017.

Common Stock

The Company declared a first quarter common stock dividend of $0.18 per share payable on April 28, 2017 to shareholders of record as of April 5, 2017.

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 815,682 available for issuance as of March 31, 2017. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized by the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $538 compared to $829 for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

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



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2017				2016
	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share		Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Restricted stock outstanding as of beginning of period	553,396		$	7.55	696,597		$	8.54
Restricted stock granted	108,446		6.77		168,720		6.22
Restricted stock vested	(275,691	)	7.94		(317,831	)	8.87
Restricted stock outstanding as of end of period	386,151		$	7.05	547,486		$	7.63

As of March 31, 2017, the grant date fair value of the Company’s remaining nonvested restricted stock is $2,334 which will be amortized into compensation expense over a weighted average period of 1.7 years.

Preferred Stock

The Company had 2,300,000 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock and 2,597,138 shares of its Series B Preferred Stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2017 compared to 2,300,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 2,271,937 shares of Series B Preferred Stock as of December 31, 2016.