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Stockholders' Equity Matters
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Equity [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity Matters STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY MATTERS
Our board of directors has adopted a dividend policy under which we have paid, and in the future intend to pay, quarterly cash dividends on our common stock. The amount and timing of future dividends will continue to be subject to the approval of our board of directors, in its sole discretion, and to applicable legal requirements.
In 2018, 2019 and 2020, our board of directors declared the following dividends:
DECLARATION DATEDIVIDEND
PER SHARE		RECORD DATETOTAL AMOUNTPAYMENT DATE
February 14, 2018$0.5875 March 15, 2018$167,969 April 2, 2018
May 24, 20180.5875 June 15, 2018168,078 July 2, 2018
July 24, 20180.5875 September 17, 2018168,148 October 2, 2018
October 25, 20180.6110 December 17, 2018174,935 January 3, 2019
February 7, 20190.6110 March 15, 2019175,242 April 2, 2019
May 22, 20190.6110 June 17, 2019175,389 July 2, 2019
July 26, 20190.6110 September 16, 2019175,434 October 2, 2019
October 31, 20190.6185 December 16, 2019177,687 January 2, 2020
February 13, 20200.6185 March 16, 2020178,047 April 6, 2020
May 5, 20200.6185 June 15, 2020178,212 July 2, 2020
August 5, 20200.6185 September 15, 2020178,224 October 2, 2020
November 4, 20200.6185 December 15, 2020178,290 January 6, 2021
On February 24, 2021, we declared a dividend to our stockholders of record as of March 15, 2021 of $0.6185 per share, payable on April 6, 2021.
During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we declared dividends in an aggregate and per share amount, based on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during each respective year, as follows:
 YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
 202020192018
Declared distributions$712,773 $703,752 $679,130 
Amount per share each distribution represents based on weighted average number of common shares outstanding2.47 2.45 2.38 
8. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY MATTERS (CONTINUED)
For federal income tax purposes, distributions to our stockholders are generally treated as nonqualified ordinary dividends (potentially eligible for the lower effective tax rates available for “qualified REIT dividends”), qualified ordinary dividends or return of capital. The United States Internal Revenue Service requires historical C corporation earnings and profits to be distributed prior to any REIT distributions, which may affect the character of each distribution to our stockholders, including whether and to what extent each distribution is characterized as a qualified or nonqualified ordinary dividend. In addition, certain of our distributions qualify as capital gain distributions. For the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, the dividends we paid on our common shares were classified as follows:
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
 202020192018
Nonqualified ordinary dividends43.0 %54.8 %83.0 %
Qualified ordinary dividends— %4.5 %4.8 %
Capital gains49.5 %14.7 %5.8 %
Return of capital7.5 %26.0 %6.4 %
100.0 %100.0 %100.0 %
Dividends paid during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 which were classified as qualified ordinary dividends for federal income tax purposes primarily related to the distribution of historical C corporation earnings and profits related to certain acquisitions completed during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018. In 2020, the percentage of our dividend that was classified as a capital gain was 49.5% and primarily related to the sale of land and buildings in the United States. In 2019, the percentage of our dividend that was classified as a capital gain was 14.7% and primarily related to the sale of land and buildings in the United States and United Kingdom. In 2018, the percentage of our dividend that was classified as a capital gain was 5.8% and primarily related to the sale of land and buildings in the United Kingdom.
EQUITY OFFERING
In December 2017, we entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with a syndicate of 16 banks (the “Underwriters”) related to the public offering by us of 14,500,000 shares of our common stock. In January 2018, the Underwriters, pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement, exercised an option to purchase an additional 2,175,000 shares of common stock, which after deducting underwriters’ commissions and the per share value of the dividend we declared on our common stock on October 24, 2017, resulted in net proceeds of approximately $76,200.