Stockholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Shareholders' Equity and Share-based Payments [Text Block]

7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Equity Incentive Plan

The Company’s 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “Equity Incentive Plan”), provides for grants of stock options as well as grants of stock, including restricted stock. Approximately 3.0 million shares of common stock are authorized for issuance under the Equity Incentive Plan, of which approximately 547,804 shares were available for issuance at December 31, 2023.

Stock Repurchase Program

In December 2022, our Board authorized a stock repurchase program for the purchase from time to time of up to $40,000 of the Company’s common stock, replacing the Company's previous repurchase program. Share purchases are made for cash in open market transactions at prevailing market prices or in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise. The timing and amount of purchases under the program are determined based upon prevailing market conditions, our liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors. All or part of the repurchases may be implemented under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, which allows repurchases under predetermined terms at times when the Company might otherwise be prevented from purchasing under insider trading laws or because of self-imposed blackout periods. The program does not require the Company to purchase any specific number of shares and may be modified, suspended, reinstated, or terminated at any time at the Company’s discretion and without notice. We repurchased 219,731 shares of our common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2022 in open market transactions at an average price of

$30.97 per share. We had no repurchases of common stock in open market transactions during the three months ended December 31, 2023.

Treasury Stock

During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we issued 32,180 shares of common stock from treasury stock to employees and repurchased 12,422 shares of common stock from our employees to satisfy statutory tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of certain performance phantom stock units under the Equity Incentive Plan.

During the three months ended December 31, 2022, we issued 71,013 shares of common stock from treasury stock to employees and repurchased 19,142 shares of common stock from our employees to satisfy statutory tax withholding requirements upon the vesting of certain performance phantom stock units under the Equity Incentive Plan. In addition, 187 restricted shares were forfeited and returned to treasury stock.

Director Phantom Stock Units

Director phantom stock units (“Director PSUs”) are granted to the members of the Board of Directors as part of their overall compensation. The Director PSUs are contractual rights to receive one share of the Company's common stock and are paid via unrestricted stock grants to each director upon their departure from the Board of Directors, or upon a change in control. We record compensation expense for the full value of the grant on the date of grant.

Employee Phantom Stock Units

An employee phantom stock unit (an “Employee PSU”) is a contractual right to receive one share of the Company’s common stock. Depending on the terms of each grant, Employee PSUs may vest upon the achievement of certain specified performance objectives and continued performance of services, or may vest based on continued performance of services through the vesting date.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had outstanding Employee PSUs, which, subject to the achievement of certain performance metrics, could result in the issuance of 376,533 shares of common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we granted 85,424 Employee PSUs, 2,535 were forfeited, and 32,180 vested.

A summary of the compensation expense related to our stock awards recognized during the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 is provided in the table below:


	Three Months Ended December 31,
	2023		2022
Restricted stock awards	$	—	$	25
Director PSUs	$	97	$	97
Employee PSUs	$	1,316	$	783