Stock repurchase: Harte Textiles, Inc., a maker of custom upholstery fabrics, is concerned about preserving the wealth of its stockholders during a cyclic down- turn in the home furnishings business. The company has maintained a constant dividend payout of $2.00 tied to a target payout ratio of 30%. Management is preparing a share repurchase recommendation to present to the firms board of directors. The following data have been gathered from the last two years:

	2014	2015
Earnings available for common stockholders	$1,680,000	$1,600,000
Number of shares outstanding	300,000	300,000
Earnings per share	$5.60	$5.33
Market price per share	$31.36	$26.65
Price/earnings ratio	5.6	5.0

a. How many shares should the company have outstanding in 2015 if its earnings available for common stockholders in that year are $1,600,000 and it pays a dividend of $2.00, given that its desired payout ratio is 30%?

b. How many shares would Harte have to repurchase to have the level of shares outstanding calculated in part a?