As a REIT, we are generally not required to pay federal income taxes, provided we satisfy the basic requirements of a REIT to primarily own and generate income from the business of owning real estate and pay dividends to shareholders equal to at least 90% of our taxable income. We have a conservative capital structure with low leverage levels and diverse sources of capital. A key element of our growth strategy is to maintain our focus on community and neighborhood shopping centers that are anchored by regional supermarkets, pharmacy chains or wholesale clubs, which we believe can provide a stable revenue flow even during difficult economic times because of the focus on food and other staple goods. We invest in our properties for the long term through regular maintenance, periodic renovations and capital improvements, enhancing their attractiveness to tenants and customers, as well as increasing their value. Our philosophy recognizes that it can often take many years for in a property to reach its full potential. We also seek to keep our ownership relatively simple by investing fee positions in land and buildings and avoiding, if possible, complicated joint ventures or leasehold investments, as well as large ground-up developments.
Notwithstanding these basic principles, we sometimes pursue strategic acquisitions of high-quality shopping centers through the formation of DownREIT subsidiaries or partnerships. Through these entities, which we generally control, we are able to design a tax-efficient structure for sellers of properties who wish to defer built-in capital gains. Additionally, we provide property management and leasing services for other property owners in our target market.
We have two classes of common stock that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange -- Common Stock and Class A Common Stock, under the ticker symbols UBP and UBA, respectively. These two classes are virtually identical, except that each share of UBA receives at least a 10% higher dividend than a share of UBP and has 1/20th of the voting power as a share of UBP. UBA also tends to be more liquid and more widely-held by the public, including institutional holders, as the majority of UBP shares are owned by management. We also have two classes of preferred stock that trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols UBPPH and UBPPK. Please refer to the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as other periodic and current reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission and other material made available on our website, to learn more about us.