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Stock-Based Compensation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Disclosure Of Compensation Related Costs Sharebased Payments [Abstract]  
Stock-Based Compensation

2. Stock-Based Compensation

Equity Incentive Plan. Lamar Advertising’s 1996 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Incentive Plan”) has reserved 15.5 million shares of Class A common stock for issuance to directors and employees, including shares underlying granted options and common stock reserved for issuance under its performance-based incentive program. Options granted under the plan expire ten years from the grant date with vesting terms ranging from three to five years and include 1) options that vest in one-fifth increments beginning on the grant date and continuing on each of the first four anniversaries of the grant date and 2) options that cliff-vest on the fifth anniversary of the grant date. All grants are made at fair market value based on the closing price of our Class A common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on the date of grant.

We use a Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model to estimate the fair value of share-based awards. The Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model incorporates various and highly subjective assumptions, including expected term and expected volatility. The Company granted options for an aggregate of 14,000 shares of its Class A common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Stock Purchase Plan. In 2009 our Board of Directors adopted a new employee stock purchase plan, the 2009 Employee Stock Purchase Plan or 2009 ESPP, which was approved by our shareholders on May 28, 2009. The 2009 ESPP reserved 588,154 shares of Class A common stock for issuance to our employees, which included 88,154 shares of Class A common stock that had been available for issuance under our 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan or 2000 ESPP. The 2000 ESPP was terminated following the issuance of all shares that were subject to the offer that commenced under the 2000 ESPP on January 1, 2009 and ended June 30, 2009. The terms of the 2009 ESPP are substantially the same as the 2000 ESPP.

The number of shares of Class A common stock available under the 2009 ESPP was automatically increased by 80,209 shares on January 1, 2014 pursuant to the automatic increase provisions of the 2009 ESPP.

The following is a summary of 2009 ESPP share activity for the period ended March 31, 2014:

 

     Shares  

Available for future purchases, January 1, 2014

     327,689   

Additional shares reserved under 2009 ESPP

     80,209   

Purchases

     (29,590
  

 

 

 

Available for future purchases, March 31, 2014

     378,308   
  

 

 

 

Performance-based compensation. Unrestricted shares of our Class A common stock may be awarded to key officers, employees and directors under our 1996 Equity Incentive Plan. The number of shares to be issued, if any, will be dependent on the level of achievement of performance measures for key officers and employees, as determined by the Company’s Compensation Committee based on our 2014 results. Any shares issued based on the achievement of performance goals will be issued in the first quarter of 2015. The shares subject to these awards can range from a minimum of 0% to a maximum of 100% of the target number of shares depending on the level at which the goals are attained. For the three months ended March 31, 2014, the Company has recorded $1,423 as non-cash compensation expense related to performance based awards. In addition, each non-employee director automatically receives upon election or re-election a restricted stock award of our Class A common stock. The awards vest 50% on grant date and 50% on the last day of each director’s one-year term. The Company recorded $31 as non-cash compensation expense related to these non-employee director awards for the three months ended March 31, 2014.