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CAPITAL STOCK
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9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2012
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| Equity [Abstract] | |
| CAPITAL STOCK |
NOTE 16 - CAPITAL STOCK
Dividends
A $0.14 per share cash dividend was paid on each of March 1, 2011 and June 1, 2011 to our shareholders of record as of February 15, 2011 and April 29, 2011, respectively. On July 12, 2011, our Board of Directors increased the quarterly common share dividend by 100 percent to $0.28 per share. The $0.28 cash dividend was paid on September 1, 2011, December 1, 2011 and March 1, 2012 to our shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 15, 2011, November 18, 2011 and February 15, 2012, respectively. On March 13, 2012, our Board of Directors increased the quarterly common share dividend by 123 percent to $0.625 per share. The increased cash dividend of $0.625 was paid on June 1, 2012 and August 31, 2012 to our shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 27, 2012 and August 15, 2012, respectively.
Share Repurchase Plan
On August 15, 2011, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase plan that authorized us to purchase up to four million of our outstanding common shares. During the third quarter of 2011, the number of common shares purchased was approximately three million shares at a cost of approximately $222 million, or an average price of approximately $74 per share. The remaining approximately one million shares were repurchased during the fourth quarter of 2011.
Public Offering
On June 13, 2011, we completed a public offering of our common shares. The total number of shares sold was 10.35 million, comprised of the 9.0 million share offering and the exercise of an underwriters’ over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1.35 million shares. The offering resulted in an increase in the number of our common shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2011. We received net proceeds of approximately $853.7 million at a closing price of $85.63 per share.
Amendment to the Second Amended Articles of Incorporation
On May 25, 2011, our shareholders approved an amendment to our Second Amended Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized Common Shares from 224,000,000 to 400,000,000, which resulted in an increase in the total number of authorized shares from 231,000,000 to 407,000,000. The total number of authorized shares includes 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 shares of Class A and Class B, respectively, of unauthorized and unissued preferred stock.
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