On July 13, 2018, A.M. Best Company, Inc. ("A.M. Best") affirmed our financial strength rating of "A+" (Superior). At the same time, A.M. Best revised its outlook to negative based on their monitoring of our growth strategy and the potential for adverse loss development in certain lines of business.
of the consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results will differ from those estimates.
Insurance Company-Owned Life Insurance: Included within other assets on the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2018 is $10,000 of insurance company-owned life insurance. The carrying value of the company-owned life insurance policies represents the cash surrender value as reported by the respective insurer, which approximates fair value.
In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash. This update amends ASC Topic 230 to add and clarify guidance on the classification and presentation of restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. The guidance requires entities to show the changes in the total of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. The guidance was applied retrospectively. The Company adopted the new guidance as of January 1, 2018 and made an adjustment within net cash provided by operating activities on the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2017 to reflect $4,000 of restricted cash, which was classified within restricted cash and short-term investments on the December 31, 2017 consolidated balance sheet. The Company also changed the presentation of restricted cash and cash equivalents on its consolidated balance sheets to reflect this amount on a separate line. The adoption of the new guidance did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated statements of operations.
In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220). This ASU allows for the option to reclassify, from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to retained earnings, stranded tax effects resulting from the newly enacted federal corporate income tax rate in the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the "U.S. Tax Act"), which was enacted on December 22, 2017. The legislation included a reduction to the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent effective January 1, 2018. The amount of the reclassification was the difference between the historical corporate income tax rate and the newly enacted 21 percent corporate income tax rate. The Company adopted the new guidance in the first quarter of 2018 and recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment to reclassify the tax effects on fixed income investments of $117 from other comprehensive income (loss) to retained earnings within the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018.
During 2018, the Company sold $149,195 in equity securities, resulting in a gain on sale of $51,900. The majority of these gains were included in unrealized gains within other comprehensive income (loss) at December 31, 2017 and, as a result of the adoption of ASU 2016-01, were reclassified to retained earnings as of January 1, 2018 and were therefore not recognized in the consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Losses and loss expenses for 2018 also reflected an increase in current accident year losses caused by severe commercial automobile losses, including continued emergence of severity.
The Company is required to establish a valuation allowance for any portion of the gross deferred tax asset that management believes will not be realized. Management has determined that no such valuation allowance is necessary at December 31, 2018 or 2017. As of December 31, 2018, calendar years 2017, 2016 and 2015 remain subject to examination by the IRS.
During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company paid $4,596 to repurchase 7,770 shares of Class A Common Stock at an average share price of $21.58 and 191,898 shares of Class B Common Stock at an average share price of $23.07 under the share repurchase program.