Shareholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Shareholders' Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

9. Shareholders’ equity

Preferred stock

As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company had the following series of preferred stock outstanding:

		Earliest Potential	Dividend	Shares	Amount
Series	Issuance Date	Redemption Date	Rate	Outstanding	(in thousands)
Series R	October, 2010	October, 2015	6.875%	3,000	$	75,000
Series S	January, 2012	January, 2017	6.450%	9,200		230,000
Series T	May, 2012	May, 2017	6.000%	14,000		350,000
Series U	September, 2012	September, 2017	5.750%	9,200		230,000
Series V	March, 2013	March, 2018	5.700%	4,400		110,000
Total				39,800	$	995,000

On March 14, 2013, the Company issued $110.0 million or 4.4 million depositary shares, each representing 1/1,000 of a share of the 5.70% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series V, at $25.00 per depositary share.

The Company recorded$15.1 million and $13.9 million in distributions to its preferred shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Holders of the Company’s preferred stock will not be entitled to vote on most matters, except under certain conditions. In the event of a cumulative arrearage equal to six quarterly dividends, the holders of the preferred stock will have the right to elect two additional members to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors until all events of default have been cured. At March 31, 2014, there were no dividends in arrears.

Except under certain conditions relating to the Company’s qualification as a REIT, the preferred stock is not redeemable prior to the previously noted redemption dates. On or after the respective redemption dates, the respective series of preferred stock will be redeemable, at the option of the Company, in whole or in part, at $25.00 per depositary share, plus any accrued and unpaid dividends. The Company had $31.8 million of deferred costs in connection with the issuance of preferred stock as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, which the Company will report as additional non-cash distributions upon notice of its intent to redeem such shares.

Common stock

On November 7, 2013, the Company sold 1,495,000 shares of common stock in a public offering and concurrently sold 950,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price to PS. The aggregate net proceeds were $192.3 million.

The Company’s Board of Directors previously authorized the repurchase, from time to time, of up to 6.5 million shares of the Company’s common stock on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. Since inception of the program, the Company has repurchased an aggregate of 4.9 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $183.9 million or an average cost per share of $37.64. Under existing board authorizations, the Company can repurchase an additional 1.6 million shares. No shares of common stock were repurchased under this program during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013.

The Company paid $13.4 million ($0.50 per common share) and $10.7 million ($0.44 per common share) in distributions to its common shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Equity stock

In addition to common and preferred stock, the Company is authorized to issue 100.0 million shares of Equity Stock. The Articles of Incorporation provide that the Equity Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series and give the Board of Directors broad authority to fix the dividend and distribution rights, conversion and voting rights, redemption provisions and liquidation rights of each series of Equity Stock.