8. Shareholders’ Equity (Deficit):

Dividends

On January 25, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a $0.10 per share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 8, 2017, which was paid on March 1, 2017.

On April 26, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the payment of a $0.11 per share quarterly cash dividend to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 10, 2017, which was paid on June 1, 2017.

Repurchase of Common Stock

In the first six months of 2017 the Company repurchased no shares of its common stock. Under the Board of Directors’ authorization, as of July 1, 2017, the Company has the ability to repurchase additional 142,988 shares of its common stock. Repurchases may be made from time to time at prevailing prices, subject to certain restrictions on volume, pricing and timing.

Stock Option Plans and Stock-Based Compensation

The Company had authorized up to 750,000 shares of common stock be reserved for granting either nonqualified or incentive stock options to officers and key employees under the Company’s 2001 Stock Option Plan (the “2001 Plan”). The 2001 Plan expired on February 20, 2011. At the April 26, 2017 Annual Shareholders meeting, the Company’s shareholders approved an increase in the shares of common stock available for granting either nonqualified or incentive stock options to officers and key employees under the Company’s 2010 Stock Option Plan (the “2010 Plan”) by 200,000 shares, from 500,000 to 700,000.

The Company also sponsors a Stock Option Plan for Nonemployee Directors (the “Nonemployee Directors Plan”) and has reserved a total of 350,000 shares for issuance to directors of the Company who are not employees.

Stock option activity under the 2001 Plan, 2010 Plan and Nonemployee Directors Plan (collectively, the “Option Plans”) as of July 1, 2017 was as follows:


				Weighted Average
				Remaining
	Number of	Weighted Average		Contractual Life
	Shares	Exercise Price		(years)		Intrinsic Value
Outstanding, December 31, 2016	673,670	$	62.11	6.11	$	43,139,100
Granted	36,000		122.19
Exercised	(52,686)		29.75
Forfeited	(4,750)		95.28
Outstanding, July 1, 2017	652,234	$	67.80	6.05	$	39,882,600
Exercisable, July 1, 2017	462,953	$	54.26	5.04	$	34,577,700

The fair value of options granted under the Option Plans during the first six months of 2017 and 2016 were estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions and results:


	Six Months Ended
	July 1, 2017			June 25, 2016
Risk free interest rate		1.90	%		1.52	%
Expected life (years)		6			6
Expected volatility		26.93	%		27.10	%
Dividend yield		1.14	%		1.38	%
Option fair value	$	31.38		$	23.78

During the six months ended July 1, 2017, options holders surrendered 2,927 shares of previously owned common shares as payment for option shares exercised as provided for by the Option Plans. All unexercised options at July 1, 2017 have an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant.

Compensation expense of $966,600 and $882,200 relating to the vested portion of the fair value of stock options granted was expensed to “Selling, General and Administrative Expenses” in the first six months of 2017 and 2016, respectively. As of July 1, 2017, the Company had $4.3 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options that is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average vesting period of approximately 2.5 years.