Note 17. Share-Based Payments

The following is a brief description of each of our share-based compensation plans:

2005 Omnibus Stock Plan

The Parent's 2005 Omnibus Stock Plan ("Stock Plan") was approved effective as of April 1, 2005 by stockholders on April 27, 2005. With the Stock Plan's approval, no further grants were available under the: (i) Parent's Stock Option Plan III, as amended ("Stock Option Plan III"); (ii) Parent's Stock Option Plan for Directors, as amended ("Stock Option Plan for Directors"); or (iii) Parent's Stock Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors, as amended ("Stock Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors"), but awards outstanding under these plans and the Parent's Stock Option Plan II, as amended ("Stock Option Plan II"), under which future grants ceased being available on May 22, 2002, shall continue in effect according to the terms of those plans and any applicable award agreements.

Stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Stock Plan effective as of May 1, 2010 (the "Amended Stock Plan") on April 28, 2010. Under the Amended Stock Plan, the Board's Salary and Employee Benefits Committee ("SEBC") may grant stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock, restricted stock units ("RSUs"), phantom stock, stock bonuses, and other awards in such amounts and with such terms and conditions as it shall determine, subject to the provisions of the Amended Stock Plan. Each award granted under the Amended Stock Plan (except unconditional stock bonuses and the cash component of Director compensation) shall be evidenced by an agreement containing such restrictions as the SEBC may, in its sole discretion, deem necessary or desirable and which are not in conflict with the terms of the Amended Stock Plan. The maximum exercise period for an option grant under this plan is ten years from the date of the grant. During 2011, we granted, net of forfeitures, 402,925 RSUs. During 2010, we granted, net of forfeitures, 374,153 RSUs, and experienced net restricted stock forfeitures of 820 shares. During 2009, we granted, net of forfeitures, 520,011 RSUs, and experienced net restricted stock forfeitures of 7,168 shares. We also granted options to purchase 238,790 shares during 2010, and 313,811 shares during 2009. No options were granted in 2011. As of December 31, 2011, 5,300,110 shares of the Parent's common stock remained available for issuance pursuant to outstanding stock options and restricted stock units granted under the Stock Plan and the Amended Stock Plan.

During the vesting period, dividend equivalent units ("DEUs") are earned on RSUs. The DEUs are reinvested in the Parent's common stock at fair value on each dividend payment date. We accrued 41,469 DEUs during 2011; 38,392 DEUs during 2010; and 32,088 DEUs in 2009. In addition, 33,532 DEUs were issued in 2011. The DEUs are subject to the same vesting period and conditions set forth in the award agreements for the RSUs.

Cash Incentive Plan

The Parent's Cash Incentive Plan ("Cash Incentive Plan") was approved effective April 1, 2005 by stockholders on April 27, 2005. Stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Cash Incentive Plan effective as of May 1, 2010 (the "Amended Cash Incentive Plan") on April 28, 2010. Under the Amended Cash Incentive Plan, the SEBC may grant cash incentive units in such amounts and with such terms and conditions as it shall determine, subject to the provisions of the Amended Cash Incentive Plan. The initial dollar value of these grants will be adjusted to reflect the percentage increase or decrease in the total shareholder return on the Parent's common stock over a specified performance period. In addition, for certain grants, the number of units granted will be adjusted to reflect our performance on specified indicators as compared to targeted peer companies. Each award granted under the Amended Cash Incentive Plan shall be evidenced by an agreement containing such restrictions as the SEBC may, in its sole discretion, deem necessary or desirable and which are not in conflict with the terms of the Amended Cash Incentive Plan. We granted, net of forfeitures, 46,879 cash incentive units during 2011, 45,082 cash incentive units during 2010, and 46,349 cash incentive units during 2009.

Stock Option Plan II

As of December 31, 2011, 302,680 shares of the Parent's common stock remained available in the reserve for Stock Option Plan II, under which future grants ceased being available on May 22, 2002. Under Stock Option Plan II, employees were granted qualified and nonqualified stock options, with or without SARs, and restricted or unrestricted stock: (i) at not less than fair value on the date of grant; and (ii) subject to certain vesting periods as determined by the SEBC. Restricted stock awards also could be subject to the achievement of performance objectives as determined by the SEBC. The maximum exercise period for an option grant under this plan was ten years from the date of the grant.

During the vesting period, dividends are earned on the restricted stock and held in escrow subject to the same vesting period and conditions set forth in the award agreements. Effective September 3, 1996, dividends earned on the restricted shares were reinvested in the Parent's common stock at fair value. In connection with restricted stock awards granted under Stock Option Plan II, we issued, net of forfeitures, 97 restricted shares from the Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRP") reserves during 2010. We experienced net forfeitures of 679 restricted shares from DRP reserves during 2009.

Stock Option Plan III

As of December 31, 2011, there were 397,212 shares of the Parent's common stock in the reserve for Stock Option Plan III, under which future grants ceased being available with the approval of the Stock Plan. Under Stock Option Plan III, employees were granted qualified and nonqualified stock options, with or without SARs, and restricted or unrestricted stock: (i) at not less than fair value on the date of grant, and (ii) subject to certain vesting restrictions determined by the SEBC. Restricted stock awards also could be subject to achievement of performance objectives as determined by the SEBC. The maximum exercise period for an option grant under this plan was ten years from the date of the grant.

In connection with unvested restricted stock awards granted under Stock Option Plan III, we experienced restricted stock forfeitures of 1,924 shares during 2009. During the vesting period, dividends earned on restricted shares were reinvested in the Parent's common stock at fair value. We experienced net forfeitures of 23,285 restricted shares from the DRP reserve during 2009.

Stock Option Plan for Directors

As of December 31, 2011, 210,000 shares of the Parent's common stock remained in the reserve for the Stock Option Plan for Directors, under which future grants ceased being available with the approval of the Stock Plan. Non-employee directors participated in this plan and automatically received an annual nonqualified option to purchase 6,000 shares of the Parent's common stock at not less than fair value on the date of grant, which was on March 1. Options under this plan vested on the first anniversary of the grant and must be exercised by the tenth anniversary of the grant.

Stock Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors

As of December 31, 2011 there were 94,290 shares of the Parent's common stock available for issuance pursuant to outstanding stock option awards under the Stock Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors, under which future grants ceased being available with the approval of the Stock Plan. Under the Stock Compensation Plan for Non-employee Directors, Directors could elect to receive a portion of their annual compensation in shares of the Parent's common stock. There were no issuances under this plan in 2011 and 2010. We issued 960 shares under this plan during 2009.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

On April 29, 2009, the Parent's stockholders approved the Parent's Employee Stock Purchase Plan (2009) ("ESPP"). This plan replaced the previous employee stock purchase savings plan under which no further purchases could be made as of July 1, 2009. Under the ESPP, there were 1,122,962 shares of the Parent's common stock available for purchase as of December 31, 2011. The ESPP is available to all employees who meet the plan's eligibility requirements. The ESPP provides for the issuance of options to purchase shares of common stock. The purchase price is the lower of: (i) 85% of the closing market price at the time the option is granted; or (ii) 85% of the closing price at the time the option is exercised. Shares are generally issued on June 30 and December 31 of each year. Under the current plan, we issued 131,705 shares to employees during 2011, 149,258 shares during 2010, and 190,845 shares during 2009.

Agent Stock Purchase Plan

On July 27, 2010, the SEBC approved the Parent's Amended and Restated Stock Purchase Plan for Independent Insurance Agencies ("Agent Plan") which made immaterial amendments to the plan approved by stockholders on April 26, 2006. Under the Agent Plan, there were 2,274,131 shares of the Parent's common stock available for purchase as of December 31, 2011. The Agent Plan provides for quarterly offerings in which our independent insurance agencies, and certain eligible persons associated with the agencies, with contracts with the Insurance Subsidiaries can purchase the Parent's common stock at a 10% discount with a one year restricted period during which the shares purchased cannot be sold or transferred. Under the Agent Plan, we issued 111,427 shares in 2011, 109,343 shares in 2010, and 146,570 shares in 2009, and charged to expense $0.2 million in each year, with a corresponding income tax benefit of $0.1 million in each year.

A summary of the stock option transactions under our share-based payment plans is as follows:

				Weighted
			Weighted	Average
			Average	Remaining		Aggregate
	Number		Exercise	Contractual		Intrinsic Value
	of Shares		Price	Life in Years		($ in thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2010	1,402,256	$	18.08
Granted 2011	-		-
Exercised 2011	135,196		11.26
Forfeited or expired 2011	27,373		20.58

Outstanding at December 31, 2011	1,239,687	$	18.78	5.20	$	2,381
Exercisable at December 31, 2011	1,130,901	$	19.08	4.95	$	2,135

The total intrinsic value of options exercised was $0.8 million during 2011 and 2010, and $0.4 million during 2009.

A summary of the restricted stock and RSU transactions under our share-based payment plans is as follows:

			Weighted
			Average
	Number		Grant Date
	of Shares		Fair Value
Unvested restricted stock and RSU awards at December 31, 2010	1,241,900	$	16.85
Granted 2011	429,420		17.17
Vested 2011	361,305		22.45
Forfeited 2011	26,495		14.74

Unvested RSU awards at December 31, 2011	1,283,520	$	15.45

As of December 31, 2011, total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested RSU awards granted under our stock plans was $4.4 million. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years. The total intrinsic value of restricted stock and RSU vested was $6.6 million for 2011, $3.9 million for 2010, and $7.9 million for 2009.

At December 31, 2011, the liability recorded in connection with our Cash Incentive Plan was $8.8 million. The fair value of the liability is re-measured at each reporting period through the settlement date of the awards, which is three years from the date of grant based on an amount expected to be paid. A Monte Carlo simulation is performed to approximate the projected fair value of the cash incentive units that, in accordance with the Cash Incentive Plan, are adjusted to reflect our performance on specified indicators as compared to targeted peer companies. The remaining cost associated with the cash incentive units is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.1 years. The cash incentive unit payments made were $3.0 million in 2011, $1.8 million in 2010 and $7.0 million in 2009.

In determining expense to be recorded for stock options granted under our share-based compensation plans, the fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black Scholes option valuation model ("Black Scholes"). The following are the significant assumptions used in applying Black Scholes: (i) the risk-free interest rate, which is the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues with an equal remaining term; (ii) the expected term, which is based on historical experience of similar awards; (iii) the dividend yield, which is determined by dividing the expected per share dividend during the coming year by the grant date stock price; and (iv) the expected volatility, which is based on the volatility of the Parent's stock price over a historical period comparable to the expected term. In applying Black Scholes, we use the weighted average assumptions illustrated in the following table:


	ESPP				All Other Option Plans
	2011		2010	2009	2011	2010	2009
Risk-free interest rate	0.13	%	0.20	0.31	-	2.30	1.85
Expected term	6 months		6 months	6 months	-	5 years	5 years
Dividend yield	3.0	%	3.3	3.4	-	3.3	3.9
Expected volatility	19	%	28	64	-	34	32

The grant date fair value of RSUs is based on the market price of our common stock on the grant date, adjusted for the present value of the our expected dividend payments. The expense recognized for share-based awards is based on the number of shares or units expected to be issued at the end of the performance period and the grant date fair value, and is amortized over the requisite service period.

The weighted-average fair value of options and stock per share, including restricted stock and RSUs granted for the Parent's stock plans, during 2011, 2010, and 2009 is as follows:

		2011	2010	2009
Stock options	$	-	3.83	2.68
Restricted stock and RSUs		17.17	14.69	14.22
Directors' stock compensation plan		-	16.09	15.11
ESPP:
Six month option		0.76	1.03	2.51
15% of grant date market value		2.62	2.35	2.49
Total ESPP		3.38	3.38	5.00
Agent Plan:
Discount of grant date market value		1.62	1.59	1.39

The decrease in the six month option value of our ESPP shares in 2011 and 2010, compared to their respective prior years, is driven primarily by a reduction in the volatility of the Parent's common stock price. During 2009, as a result of the economic crisis and its impact on the global markets, particularly in the financial sector, the Parent's common stock prices experienced unprecedented volatility, whereas the volatility in 2010 and 2011 returned to more normalized levels.

Share-based compensation expense charged against net income before tax was $10.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2011 with a corresponding income tax benefit of $3.5 million. Share-based compensation expense that was charged against net income before tax was $12.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 and $10.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 with corresponding income tax benefits of $4.0 million and $3.4 million, respectively.