Stock-Based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

In May 2024, the Company’s stockholders approved the 2024 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2024 Plan”), which provides for grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SAR”), restricted stock, performance shares, and performance units to non-employee directors and employees of the Company. Stock options may be either incentive stock options (“ISOs”), as defined in Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or nonqualified stock options (“NQSOs”).

The 2024 Plan provides the Company flexibility to (i) attract and retain qualified non-employee directors, executives, and other key employees with appropriate equity-based awards; (ii) motivate high levels of performance; (iii) recognize employees’ contributions to the Company’s success; and (iv) align the interests of the participants with those of the Company’s stockholders. The 2024 Plan reserved for 4,500,000 shares available for grant to participants. At December 31, 2024, there were 3,769,296 remaining shares available for future grants under the 2024 plan. The pool of available shares can be partially replenished for future grants to the extent there are forfeitures, expirations or otherwise terminations of existing equity awards without issuance of the shares underlying such awards. The exercise price for shares under an ISO may not be less than 100% of fair market value on the date the award is granted under the Code. Similarly, under the terms of the 2024 Plan, the exercise price for SARs and NQSOs may not be less than 100% of fair market value on the date of grant. Performance units are awarded to participants at the market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of award, after the lapse of the restriction period and the attainment of the performance criteria. All options not exercised generally expire 10 years after the date of grant.

The shares of common stock previously available under the 2019 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2019 Plan”) are no longer available for future grant.

ISOs, SARs, and NQSOs have vesting periods of three to five years and have 10-year contractual terms. Restricted stock, performance shares, and performance units are granted with a restriction period of not less than one year from the grant date for performance-based awards and not more than three years from the grant date for time-based vesting of grants. Compensation expense for awards is recognized over the vesting period.

With the exception of the shares that are underlying stock options and restricted stock awards, the Board of Directors may choose to settle the awards by paying the equivalent cash value or by delivering the appropriate number of shares.

The following is a summary of the Company’s stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2024:


	Number of Shares	Weighted-Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (Dollars in thousands)
Outstanding - January 1, 2024	629,367	$	16.61
Granted	—	—
Exercised	—	—
Expired	(208,136)	15.75
Forfeited	—	—
Outstanding - December 31, 2024	421,231	$	17.04	1.62	$	—
Options exercisable - December 31, 2024	421,231	$	17.04	1.62	$	—

The following is a summary of the Company’s restricted stock and performance unit activity for the year ended December 31, 2024:


	Number of Shares	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding (unvested) - January 1, 2024	2,043,621	$	12.09
Granted	783,401	12.37
Vested	(947,075)	12.59
Forfeited	(174,231)	13.09
Outstanding (unvested) - December 31, 2024	1,705,716	$	11.84

The total fair value of restricted stock and performance units vested for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, was $10.4 million, $9.5 million, and $9.7 million, respectively.

The amount charged against income related to stock-based payment arrangements was $8.9 million, $12.3 million, and $12.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively. The income tax benefit recognized was approximately $2.6 million, $3.1 million, and $3.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.

At December 31, 2024, unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock option grants, restricted stock awards, performance share units and long term incentive plan totaled $10.1 million and was expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted average vesting period of 1.8 years.

In July 2022, the Company discontinued the Hope Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), which allowed eligible employees to purchase the Company’s common shares through payroll deductions, which build up between the offering date and the purchase date. At the purchase date, the Company used the accumulated funds to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock on behalf of the participating employees at a 10% discount to the closing price of the Company’s common shares. The closing price is the lower of either the closing price on the first day of the offering period or the closing price on the purchase date. The dollar amount of common shares purchased under the ESPP must not exceed 20% of the participating employee’s base salary, subject to a cap of $25 thousand in stock value based on the grant date. The ESPP was considered compensatory under GAAP and compensation expense for the ESPP was recognized as part of the Company’s stock-based compensation expense. No compensation expense was incurred for the ESPP during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, due to the plan’s discontinuation. The compensation expense for ESPP for the year ended December 31, 2022, was $284 thousand.