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 3,608,999 shares of its Series B Preferred Stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2018 compared to 2,300,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 3,588,680 shares of Series B Preferred Stock as of December 31, 2017.

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. The Company's Preferred Stock may be redeemed in whole, or in part, at any time and from time to time 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 paid its regular quarterly dividends on its Preferred Stock for the first quarter on April 16, 2018 to shareholders of record as of April 1, 2018.

Common Stock

The Company declared a first quarter common stock dividend of $0.18 per share that was paid on April 30, 2018 to shareholders of record as of April 3, 2018.

Stock and Incentive Plans. Upon recommendation by the Company’s Compensation Committee, the Company’s Board adopted the 2018 Stock and Incentive Plan subject to approval by the Company’s shareholders. If approved by the shareholders at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 15, 2018, the 2018 Plan will replace the Company’s 2009 Stock and Incentive Plan and will reserve for issuance up to 3,000,000 shares of common stock for eligible employees, non-employee directors, consultants, and advisers to the Company to be granted in the form of stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance units, and performance cash awards. Awards previously granted under the 2009 Plan will remain outstanding in accordance with their terms, but none of the remaining shares of common stock authorized under the 2009 Plan will be transferred to or used under the 2018 Plan. If shareholders do not approve the 2018 Plan at the Annual Meeting, any future equity awards will be granted under the 2009 Plan until its expiration date of May 12, 2019, under which the Company had 635,463 shares of common stock available for issuance as of March 31, 2018.

Total stock-based compensation expense recognized by the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017 was $335 and $538, respectively. The following table presents a rollforward of the restricted stock activity for the periods indicated:



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2018				2017
	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	353,103		$	7.01	553,396		$	7.55
Restricted stock granted	176,233		6.28		108,446		6.77
Restricted stock vested	(194,827	)	7.37		(275,691	)	7.94
Restricted stock outstanding as of end of period	334,509		$	6.42	386,151		$	7.05

As of March 31, 2018, the grant date fair value of the Company’s remaining nonvested restricted stock is $1,889 which will be amortized into compensation expense over a weighted average period of 2.2 years.