SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS:

In May 2014, the shareholders approved the Company's 2014 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2014 EIP Plan") that provided for the grant of stock options, shares of restricted stock, RSUs, PSUs, stock bonus awards, stock appreciation rights, performance share awards and performance compensation awards and unrestricted stock (collectively, "Equity Incentive Awards") to the Company’s executive officers, other key employees and directors. This plan was amended in May 2017 and allows the grant of up to 1,875,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. For 2023, 2022, and 2021, the Company recognized stock-based compensation cost of $3.1 million, $3.3 million and $2.9 million, respectively.

RSUs generally vest over a three year period with the fair market value of the awards determined at the grant date based on the Company's stock price. PSUs vest at the end of a three year period with the fair market value of the awards determined using a Monte Carlo simulation technique. A summary of the status of the combined RSUs and PSUs is as follows:


	Number	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

Outstanding at December 31, 2022	227,075	$	33.95
Granted	141,138	27.81
Cancelled or forfeited	(90,917)	24.45
Vested	(46,310)	33.22
Outstanding at December 31, 2023	230,986	$	34.08

The assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulations used to determine fair market value of the PSUs granted in 2023, 2022 and 2021 are set forth in the table below:


	2023		2022		2021

Volatility of common stock	42.7	%	40.3	%	40.5	%
Average volatility of peer companies	45.0	%	44.2	%	43.5	%
Average correlation coefficient of peer companies	0.8029	%	0.8079	%	0.8004	%
Risk-free interest rate	4.2	%	1.0	%	0.2	%
Expected term in years	3 years		3 years		3 years