Stock-based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

(7)

Stock-based Compensation

The Company grants restricted shares of common stock and PSUs to key employees and directors as part of their compensation. Grants are made pursuant to the Company's 2019 Long-term Incentive Plan (the "2019 Plan"), which was approved by the Company's shareholders on May 31, 2019. Future authorized equity awards available under the 2019 Plan as of December 31, 2024 were 872,099 shares of common stock.

Stock-based compensation expense is included in general and administrative expenses. During the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 the Company had $15.3 million, $9.9 million and $6.6 million, respectively, in stock-based compensation expense.

Restricted Stock

The fair value of restricted stock grants is amortized over the vesting period, generally one year to three years, using the straight-line method. The fair value of each restricted share on the date of grant is equal to the market price of a share of the Company's stock.

A summary of restricted stock activity is presented below:


	Number of Restricted Shares			Weighted Average Grant Price
Outstanding at January 1, 2024		1,429,084		$	11.62
Granted		1,315,984		$	7.78
Vested		(652,781	)	$	11.49
Forfeitures		(1,200	)	$	7.63
Outstanding at December 31, 2024		2,091,087		$	9.25


	Year Ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
	(In thousands, except per share data)
Fair value of vested restricted stock	$	7,536	$	4,241	$	11,080
Grant date weighted average fair value	$	7.78	$	9.80	$	17.70
Compensation expense recognized for restricted stock grants	$	9,884	$	6,519	$	4,171
Unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested shares	$	12,753
Expected recognition period	1.7 years

Performance Share Units

The Company issues PSUs as part of its long-term equity incentive compensation. PSU awards can result in the issuance of common stock to the holder if certain performance criteria are met during a performance period. The performance periods consist of three years. The performance criteria for the PSUs are based on the Company's annualized total stockholder return ("TSR") for the performance period as compared with the TSR of certain peer companies for the performance period. The costs associated with PSUs are recognized as general and administrative expense over the performance periods of the awards.

The fair value of PSUs was measured at the grant date using the Geometric Brownian Motion Model. Significant assumptions used in this simulation include the Company's expected volatility and a risk-free interest rate based on U.S. Treasury yield curve rates with maturities consistent with the vesting periods, as well as the volatilities for each of the Company's peers. Assumptions regarding volatility included the historical volatility of each company's stock and the implied volatilities of publicly traded stock options.

Significant assumptions used to value PSUs included:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2024			2023			2022
Risk free interest rate		4.4	%		4.2	%		3.6	%
Range of implied volatility:
Minimum		33	%		38	%		50	%
Maximum		58	%		68	%		83	%

A summary of PSU activity is presented below:


	Number of PSUs			Weighted Average Grant Price
Outstanding at January 1, 2024		760,901		$	15.92
Granted		705,603		$	9.69
Earned		(175,749	)	$	8.09
Outstanding at December 31, 2024		1,290,755		$	13.21


	Year Ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
	(In thousands, except per unit data)
Number of PSUs granted		706		391		237
Grant date fair value	$	6,837	$	4,906	$	6,023
Grant date fair value per unit	$	9.69	$	13.64	$	25.92
Compensation expense recognized for PSUs	$	5,375	$	3,348	$	2,439
Unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested shares	$	8,344
Expected recognition period	2.0 years

The fair value of PSUs is amortized over the vesting period of three years, using the straight-line method. The final number of shares of common stock issued may vary depending upon the performance multiplier and can result in the issuance of zero to 2,581,510 shares of common stock based on the achieved performance ranges from zero to two hundred percent.