Share-Based Compensation Plans

9 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2016

Note 15 – Share-Based Compensation Plans

We have share-based awards outstanding under several share-based compensation plans. During the periods reported, the Company had the following share-based compensation activity:

During the three months ended May 31, 2016, we granted options to purchase 1,500 shares of common stock to employees. The fair value of these options were estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate fair value of $28.74 for a grant with a term of four years. The following assumptions were used for the grant: expected life of 4.05 years; risk-free interest rate of 1.22 percent; zero dividend yield; and an expected volatility of 33.40 percent.

During the three- and nine-months ended November 30, 2016, we issued 1,358 and 3,829 restricted shares, respectively, to non-employee Board members with a total grant date fair value of $0.12 and $0.37 million, respectively, and average share prices of $90.31 and $96.27, respectively.

During the three- and nine-months ended November 30, 2016, we granted time-vested restricted stock units (“RSUs”) that may be settled for 306 and 83,888 shares of common stock, respectively, with average fair values at the grant dates of $88.18 and $97.60 per unit, respectively.

During the three months ended May 31, 2016, we granted performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) for 69,728 shares of common stock, with an average fair value of $97.12 per unit.

During the three- and nine-months ended November 30, 2016, employee RSUs for 2,265 and 15,496 shares, respectively, vested and settled with total grant date fair values of $0.19 and $1.46 million, respectively, and average share prices of $85.97 and $94.47, respectively.

During the three- and nine-months ended November 30, 2016, employees exercised stock options to purchase 35,675 and 147,342 shares of common stock, respectively.

During the fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2016, employees purchased 14,580 shares of common stock for $1.12 million through our employee stock purchase plan.

We recorded the following share-based compensation expense in SG&A for the periods covered below:

SHARE-BASED PAYMENT EXPENSE

(in thousands, except per share data)


	Three Months Ended November 30,				Nine Months Ended November 30,
	2016		2015		2016		2015
Stock options	$	629	$	718	$	2,036	$	2,055
Directors stock compensation		175		175		525		525
Performance based and other stock awards		2,151		1,368		8,998		3,500
Employee stock purchase plan		-		-		258		223
Share-based payment expense		2,955		2,261		11,817		6,303
Less income tax benefits		(706)		(396)		(2,920)		(989)
Share-based payment expense, net of income tax benefits	$	2,249	$	1,865	$	8,897	$	5,314

Earnings per share impact of share based payment expense:
Basic	$	0.08	$	0.07	$	0.32	$	0.19
Diluted	$	0.08	$	0.07	$	0.32	$	0.18

- Definition

The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.

+ References + Details