COMMON STOCK REPURCHASES AND CASH DIVIDENDS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Common Stock Repurchases and Cash Dividends [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity [Text Block]

COMMON STOCK REPURCHASES AND CASH DIVIDENDS:

Common Stock Repurchases

Over the years the Company’s board of directors has authorized the use of funds to repurchase shares of the Company’s common stock, including $60.0 million, $30.0 million and $110.0 million in 2015, 2017, and 2018, respectively, with repurchases to be executed according to pre-defined price/volume guidelines. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 the Company purchased approximately 129,000, 1,572,000 and 121,000 shares, respectively, for approximately $9.2 million, $103.2 million and $7.3 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, the Company had $43.9 million available for future stock repurchases, which has no expiration date. Authorization of future stock repurchase programs is at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and business conditions as well as other factors.

Common Stock Dividend

The following table presents the quarterly dividends declared per share of the Company’s common stock for the periods indicated:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
First Quarter	$	0.17	$	0.16	$	0.14
Second Quarter	$	0.17	$	0.16	$	0.14
Third Quarter	$	0.17	$	0.16	$	0.14
Fourth Quarter	$	0.19	$	0.16	$	0.14

The Company paid a total of approximately $20.5 million, $18.8 million and $16.6 million in cash dividends during 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

In January 2019, the Company’s board of directors declared a $0.17 per share quarterly dividend for each quarter in 2019. In October 2019, the Company’s board of directors raised the cash dividends per share with the declaration of five cash dividends, consisting of (a) a dividend in the amount of $0.02 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of the fourth quarter in 2019, which is in addition to the dividend in the amount of $0.17 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of the fourth quarter in 2019 previously declared by the Board in January 2019, and (b) a dividend in the amount of $0.19 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of each quarter in 2020. The declaration of any future cash dividend is at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors, as well as a determination that cash dividends are in the best interest of the Company’s stockholders.