The Company has 750 million authorized shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share and 60 million authorized shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. The number of shares of common stock and treasury stock and the share activity for 2019 and 2018 were as follows:

	Common Shares						Treasury Shares
	2019			2018			2019		2018
Balance at the beginning of the year		140,498,981			151,906,797			40,110,623		27,879,929
Stock plan shares issued		1,281,198			822,878			—		—
Shares surrendered by optionees		(185,141	)		(230,550	)		185,141		230,550
Common stock repurchases		(2,039,551	)		(12,000,144	)		2,039,551		12,000,144
Balance at the end of the year		139,555,487			140,498,981			42,335,315		40,110,623

At December 31, 2019, no shares of our preferred stock were outstanding. Our Board of Directors has the authority, without action by the Company’s stockholders, to designate and issue our preferred stock in one or more series and to designate the rights, preferences, limitations and privileges of each series of preferred stock, which may be greater than the rights of the Company’s common stock.

In 2019, we repurchased 2.0 million shares of outstanding common stock under the Company’s share repurchase program for $100.0 million. As of December 31, 2019, the Company’s total remaining share repurchase authorization under the remaining program was approximately $314 million. The share repurchase program does not obligate the Company to repurchase any specific dollar amount or number of shares and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

In December 2019, our Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.24 per share of common stock, which represents an increase of 9% from the previous dividend.