Note 5. Stockholders’ Equity and Partners' Capital

Common Stock

During the six months ended June 30, 2019, portions of restricted common stock awards granted to certain of the Company's officers and other employees vested. The vesting of these awards, granted pursuant to the Amended Incentive Award Plan, resulted in federal and state income tax liabilities for the recipients. As permitted by the terms of the Amended Incentive Award Plan and the award grants, certain executive officers and employees elected to surrender approximately 34 thousand shares of common stock valued at $1.4 million, solely to pay the associated statutory tax withholdings during the six months ended June 30, 2019. In May 2019, the Company entered into forward sale agreements with certain financial institutions acting as forward purchasers in connection with an offering of 11.5 million shares of common stock at an initial gross offering price of $41.00 per share, before underwriting discounts and offering expenses. The forward purchasers borrowed and sold an aggregate of 11.5 million shares of common stock in the offering. The Company did not receive any proceeds from the sale of its shares of common stock by the forward purchasers at the time of the offering. The forward sale price that the Company will receive upon physical settlement of the agreements, which was initially $39.36 per share, will be subject to adjustment for (i) a floating interest rate factor equal to a specified daily rate less a spread, (ii) the forward purchasers' stock borrowing costs and (iii) scheduled dividends during the term of the forward sale agreements. As of June 30, 2019, 1.9 million of these shares had been settled, generating gross proceeds of $76.0 million.

Preferred Stock

As of June 30, 2019, the Company had 6.9 million shares of 6.00% Series A Preferred Stock outstanding. The Series A Preferred Stock pays cumulative cash dividends at the rate of 6.00% per annum on the liquidation preference of $25.00 per share (equivalent to $0.375 per share on a quarterly basis and $1.50 per share on an annual basis). For both the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company paid $5.2 million in Series A Preferred Stock dividends.

ATM Program

In November 2016, the Company's Board of Directors approved a new ATM Program and the Company terminated its existing program. The agreement provides for the offer and sale of shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.05 par value per share (the “common stock”), having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $500.0 million through the agents, as its sales agents or, if applicable, as forward sellers for forward purchasers (as defined below), or directly to the agents acting as principals.

As of June 30, 2019, 2.4 million shares of the Company's common stock have been sold under the new ATM Program, of which 2.3 million were sold during the six months ended June 30, 2019 at a weighted average price per share of $39.19,

generating $91.4 million in gross proceeds. 1.8 million of these sales were through forward sales agreements, which were physically settled in shares. Aggregate gross proceeds capacity of $404.9 million remained available under the program as of June 30, 2019.

Stock Repurchase Programs

In May 2018, the Company's Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase program, which authorizes the Company to repurchase up to $250.0 million of its common stock. These purchases can be made in the open market or through private transactions from time to time over the 18-month time period following authorization, depending on prevailing market conditions and applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Purchase activity will be dependent on various factors, including the Company's capital position, operating results, funds generated by asset sales, dividends that may be required by those sales, and investment options that may be available, including acquiring new properties or retiring debt. The stock repurchase program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended at any time at the Company's discretion. As of June 30, 2019, no shares of the Company's common stock had been repurchased under the new program and the full $250.0 million in gross repurchase capacity remained available.

Dividends Declared

For the six months ended June 30, 2019, the Company's Board of Directors declared the following preferred and common stock dividends:

The Common Stock dividend declared on May 30, 2019 was paid on July 15, 2019 and is included in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets as of June 30, 2019.