Sell-through. The demand for Ruger products in the first half of 2012 is very strong as evidenced by the 59% growth in estimated sell-through of Ruger products from the independent wholesale distributors to retailers. We believe that some of this demand was attributable to political and economic factors that favorably impacted the entire firearms industry as evidenced by the 21% increase in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System background checks, which we call NICS. We believe that this -- our growth substantially outpaced the growth in NICS checks because of the popularity of our new products.
Inventory and production. In response to the strong demand and the new products that were added in the first half of 2012, we increased our unit production by 52% from the first half of 2011. This increase in production would not have been possible without our investment of $27 million in capital expenditures in the past 4 quarters. These capital expenditures exceeded depreciation by approximately $13 million during this period, which represented a 7% increase to our capital equipment base. Our commitment to continuous improvement through the implementation of lean business practices enabled us to leverage this investment to achieve the 52% increase in unit production. Despite the significant increase in production, our finished goods inventory decreased slightly during the first half of 2012.
Our independent wholesale distributors' inventory were reduced by 50% or 68,000 units during the same period as retailer demand pulled Ruger product through the channel. We believe that both Ruger and our independent distributors would benefit by having more finished goods in inventory to allow for a rapid fulfillment of demand. Our goal is to replenish -- let me say this, our long-term goal is to replenish our finished goods inventory in future periods to levels that would better serve our customers. This replenishment could increase the value of finished goods inventory by as much as $15 million from the current level, but try as we might, I don't think it will happen too soon.
Bookings. During the first quarter of 2012, retailers ordered much more Ruger products than in prior years and the independent distributors responded by placing very large orders with us. By mid-March, we had received orders for more units than the total of all units shipped in 2011. The orders we accept are noncancellable and we want to maintain that discipline, so I became concerned about the size of the backlog compared to our manufacturing capacity. Therefore, we announced on March 21, 2012, that we were temporarily suspending the acceptance of new orders from our independent wholesale distributors through the end of May. Two months later, on May 29, 2012, we announced that we would resume the acceptance of orders. By temporarily suspending orders, we were able to slow the growth of our backlog which exceeded 1.1 million units at the time of the suspension. The temporary suspension of order acceptance had no impact on our production, no impact on our shipments, no impact on our profitability, no impact on our distributors' ability to accept orders from retailers, no impact on our distributors' ability to get products from Ruger and no impact on our distributors' ability to ship products to retailers. Despite this temporary suspension of order acceptance, orders received during the second quarter of 2012, the period most affected, still increased 10% from the second quarter of 2011.
Balance sheet. Our balance sheet at June 30, 2012, is strong. Our cash and cash equivalents totaled $96 million, an increase of $15 million from December 31, 2011. Our current ratio on June 30 was 3.3:1, and we have no debt. At June 30, 2012, stockholders' equity was $163 million, which equates to a book value of $8.49 per share, of which $5.01 per share was cash and equivalents.
In the first half of 2012, we generated $37.5 million of cash from operations. We reinvested $12.3 million of that back into the company in the form of capital expenditures. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, these capital investments allowed us to realize the 52% increase in production which was instrumental to the achievement of our record financial results. We expect to invest approximately $20 million for capital expenditures during the whole of 2012.
In the first half of 2012, we returned $10.3 million to our shareholders through the payment of dividends, an additional $7.2 million in dividends will be paid to shareholders on August 27 as our Board of Directors declared a $0.377 per share dividend at the regular quarterly meeting on Tuesday. This dividend necessarily varies every quarter because the company pays a percent of earnings rather than a fixed amount per share. Last quarter, we increased the percentage of quarterly earnings paid out as dividends from 15% to 25% of the adjusted operating profit. This increased payout percentage demonstrates our confidence that future cash flows will be sufficient to support our operations and our belief that this increased rate will not restrict our ability to expand our business either organically, through an acquisition or otherwise.
Those were the highlights of the second quarter. Now I would like to respond to your questions related to these results. [Operator Instructions]
Inventory and production. In response to the strong demand and the new products that were added in the first half of 2012, we increased our unit production by 52% from the first half of 2011. This increase in production would not have been possible without our investment of $27 million in capital expenditures in the past 4 quarters. These capital expenditures exceeded depreciation by approximately $13 million during this period, which represented a 7% increase to our capital equipment base. Our commitment to continuous improvement through the implementation of lean business practices enabled us to leverage this investment to achieve the 52% increase in unit production. Despite the significant increase in production, our finished goods inventory decreased slightly during the first half of 2012.
Our independent wholesale distributors' inventory were reduced by 50% or 68,000 units during the same period as retailer demand pulled Ruger product through the channel. We believe that both Ruger and our independent distributors would benefit by having more finished goods in inventory to allow for a rapid fulfillment of demand. Our goal is to replenish -- let me say this, our long-term goal is to replenish our finished goods inventory in future periods to levels that would better serve our customers. This replenishment could increase the value of finished goods inventory by as much as $15 million from the current level, but try as we might, I don't think it will happen too soon.
Bookings. During the first quarter of 2012, retailers ordered much more Ruger products than in prior years and the independent distributors responded by placing very large orders with us. By mid-March, we had received orders for more units than the total of all units shipped in 2011. The orders we accept are noncancellable and we want to maintain that discipline, so I became concerned about the size of the backlog compared to our manufacturing capacity. Therefore, we announced on March 21, 2012, that we were temporarily suspending the acceptance of new orders from our independent wholesale distributors through the end of May. Two months later, on May 29, 2012, we announced that we would resume the acceptance of orders. By temporarily suspending orders, we were able to slow the growth of our backlog which exceeded 1.1 million units at the time of the suspension. The temporary suspension of order acceptance had no impact on our production, no impact on our shipments, no impact on our profitability, no impact on our distributors' ability to accept orders from retailers, no impact on our distributors' ability to get products from Ruger and no impact on our distributors' ability to ship products to retailers. Despite this temporary suspension of order acceptance, orders received during the second quarter of 2012, the period most affected, still increased 10% from the second quarter of 2011.
Balance sheet. Our balance sheet at June 30, 2012, is strong. Our cash and cash equivalents totaled $96 million, an increase of $15 million from December 31, 2011. Our current ratio on June 30 was 3.3:1, and we have no debt. At June 30, 2012, stockholders' equity was $163 million, which equates to a book value of $8.49 per share, of which $5.01 per share was cash and equivalents.
In the first half of 2012, we generated $37.5 million of cash from operations. We reinvested $12.3 million of that back into the company in the form of capital expenditures. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, these capital investments allowed us to realize the 52% increase in production which was instrumental to the achievement of our record financial results. We expect to invest approximately $20 million for capital expenditures during the whole of 2012.
In the first half of 2012, we returned $10.3 million to our shareholders through the payment of dividends, an additional $7.2 million in dividends will be paid to shareholders on August 27 as our Board of Directors declared a $0.377 per share dividend at the regular quarterly meeting on Tuesday. This dividend necessarily varies every quarter because the company pays a percent of earnings rather than a fixed amount per share. Last quarter, we increased the percentage of quarterly earnings paid out as dividends from 15% to 25% of the adjusted operating profit. This increased payout percentage demonstrates our confidence that future cash flows will be sufficient to support our operations and our belief that this increased rate will not restrict our ability to expand our business either organically, through an acquisition or otherwise.
Those were the highlights of the second quarter. Now I would like to respond to your questions related to these results. [Operator Instructions]
