Dividend Payment Dates: Dividends on our stock are paid quarterly in the months shown below. The payment date is the 15th of the month.

Current Dividend Payments.

Record Date: This is the date we use to determine who is eligible to receive a dividend payment. The record date is approximately two weeks prior to the payment date, on a date selected by the Board of Directors. Shareholders who own stock on that date will receive the dividend directly from Mellon Investor Services . Shareholders who own stock in street name will receive the dividend directly from their brokers.

Ex-Dividend Date: This date is significant only when investors are buying or selling stock. Under a New York Stock Exchange rule, if an investor buys a company's stock on or after the ex-dividend date, the seller rather than the investor is entitled to the next dividend. The ex-dividend date is set by the New York Stock Exchange (common) or American Stock Exchange (preferred) and usually is the second business day prior to the record date (see above).

This procedure is required because it takes about three business days to settle a contract for the purchase or sale of a security. Therefore, if an investor buys or sells stock later than the second business day prior to the record date, the transaction would not be settled until after the record date. Consequently the purchaser would not be a holder on the record date and would not receive the dividend, which would go to the seller instead.

Dividend checks are mailed in time to reach shareholders on the payment dates. However, shareholders should allow for delays in postal handling before notifying Mellon Investor Services that they have not received a check.