Note 18 - Preferred Stock, Common Stock and Convertible Unit Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

18.  Preferred Stock, Common Stock and Convertible Unit Transactions:

Preferred Stock

The Company’s Board of Directors had authorized the repurchase of up to 894,000 depositary shares of Class L Preferred Stock and 1,048,000 depositary shares of Class M Preferred Stock through December 31, 2023, which represented up to 1,942 shares of the Company’s preferred stock, par value $1.00 per share. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased the following preferred stock:

Class of Preferred Stock	Depositary Shares Repurchased		Purchase Price (in thousands)
Class L		43,777	$	973.4
Class M		23,791	$	515.9

During January 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 891,000 depositary shares of Class L Preferred Stock, 1,047,000 depositary shares of Class M Preferred Stock, and 185,000 depositary shares of Class N Preferred Stock through February 28, 2026. See Footnote 28 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding subsequent events.

The Company’s outstanding Preferred Stock is detailed below (in thousands, except share data and par values):

As of December 31, 2023
Class of Preferred Stock	Shares Authorized		Shares Issued and Outstanding		Liquidation Preference (in thousands)		Dividend Rate			Annual Dividend per Depositary Share		Par Value		Optional Redemption Date
Class L		10,350		8,902	$	222,543		5.125	%	$	1.28125	$	1.00	8/16/2022
Class M		10,580		10,465		261,636		5.250	%	$	1.31250	$	1.00	12/20/2022
				19,367	$	484,179

As of December 31, 2022
Class of Preferred Stock	Shares Authorized		Shares Issued and Outstanding		Liquidation Preference (in thousands)		Dividend Rate			Annual Dividend per Depositary Share		Par Value		Optional Redemption Date
Class L		10,350		8,946	$	223,637		5.125	%	$	1.28125	$	1.00	8/16/2022
Class M		10,580		10,489		262,231		5.250	%	$	1.31250	$	1.00	12/20/2022
				19,435	$	485,868

The Company’s Class L and Class M Preferred Stock Depositary Shares are not convertible or exchangeable for any other property or securities of the Company. 

Voting Rights

The Class L and M Preferred Stock rank pari passu as to voting rights, priority for receiving dividends and liquidation preference as set forth below.

As to any matter on which the Class L or M Preferred Stock may vote, including any actions by written consent, each share of the Class L or M Preferred Stock shall be entitled to 1,000 votes, each of which 1,000 votes may be directed separately by the holder thereof. With respect to each share of Class L or M Preferred Stock, the holder thereof may designate up to 1,000 proxies, with each such proxy having the right to vote a whole number of votes (totaling 1,000 votes per share of Class L or M Preferred Stock). As a result, each Class L or M Depositary Share is entitled to one vote.

Liquidation Rights

In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Company, preferred stock holders are entitled to be paid, out of the assets of the Company legally available for distribution to its stockholders, a liquidation preference of $25,000 per share of Class L Preferred Stock and $25,000 per share of Class M Preferred Stock ($25.00 per each Class L and Class M Depositary Share), plus an amount equal to any accrued and unpaid dividends to the date of payment, before any distribution of assets is made to holders of the Company’s common stock or any other capital stock that ranks junior to the preferred stock as to liquidation rights.

Common Stock

The Company has a common share repurchase program, which is scheduled to expire February 28, 2026. Under this program, the Company may repurchase shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, with an aggregate gross purchase price of up to $300.0 million. The Company did not repurchase any shares under the share repurchase program during 2023 and 2022. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $224.9 million available under this share repurchase program.

During September 2023, the Company established an at-the-market continuous offering program (the “ATM Program”) pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell from time-to-time shares of its common stock, par value $0.01 per share, with an aggregate gross sales price of up to $500.0 million through a consortium of banks acting as sales agents. Sales of the shares of common stock may be made, as needed, from time to time in “at the market” offerings as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions on the New York Stock Exchange or otherwise (i) at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, (ii) at prices related to prevailing market prices or (iii) as otherwise agreed to with the applicable sales agent. In addition, the Company may, from time to time, enter into separate forward sale agreements with one or more banks. The Company did not issue any shares under the ATM Program during the year ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $500.0 million available under this ATM Program.

The Company, from time to time, repurchases shares of its common stock in amounts that offset new issuances of common stock relating to the exercise of stock options or the issuance of restricted stock awards. These repurchases may occur in open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or otherwise subject to prevailing market conditions, the Company’s liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors. During 2023, 2022 and 2021, the Company repurchased 761,149, 567,450 and 1,084,953 shares, respectively, relating to shares of common stock surrendered to the Company to satisfy statutory minimum tax withholding obligations relating to the vesting of restricted stock awards under the Company’s equity-based compensation plans.

Convertible Units

The Company has various types of convertible units that were issued in connection with the purchase of operating properties (see Footnote 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements). The amount of consideration that would be paid to unaffiliated holders of units issued from the Company’s consolidated subsidiaries which are not mandatorily redeemable, as if the termination of these consolidated subsidiaries occurred on December 31, 2023, is $51.2 million. The Company has the option to settle such redemption in cash or shares of the Company’s common stock. If the Company exercised its right to settle in common stock, the unit holders would receive 2.4 million shares of common stock.

Dividends Declared

The following table provides a summary of the dividends declared per share:

			Year Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Common Stock (1)	$	1.02000	$	0.84000	$	0.68000
Class L Depositary Shares	$	1.28125	$	1.28125	$	1.28125
Class M Depositary Shares	$	1.31250	$	1.31250	$	1.31250

(1) During 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a $0.09 per common share special cash dividend to maintain distribution requirements as a REIT.