The Company maintains certain share-based compensation plans, approved by the Company’s shareholders, which are administered by the Management Development and Compensation Committee (the “MD&C Committee”) of the Board. The share-based compensation plans were established to allow for the granting of compensation awards to attract, motivate and retain employees, executive officers and non-employee directors who contribute to the long-term growth and profitability of the Company and to give such persons a proprietary interest in the Company, thereby enhancing their personal interest in the Company’s success.

The Company granted restricted stock awards (“RSAs”), restricted stock unit award (“RSUs”), and performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) during the three months ended March 31, 2025 as follows:


	Number of Underlying Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
RSAs		667	$	17.49
RSUs		196,291	$	23.43
PSUs		42,232	$	23.27

The grant date for the RSAs granted during the three months ended March 31, 2025 was equal to the closing market price of our common stock on the day of the 2024 annual shareholder meeting. The grant-date fair value for the RSUs and PSUs granted during the three months ended March 31, 2025 was equal to the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant reduced by the present value of the dividends expected to be paid on the underlying shares.

Fifty percent of the RSAs granted during the three months ended March 31, 2025 vested on the grant date. The remaining RSAs will vest the day before the Company’s next annual meeting. The RSUs and PSUs granted during the three months ended March 31, 2025 will generally vest on the third anniversary of the grant date assuming the recipient’s continuous service to the Company.

The Company amortizes the expense related to share-based compensation awards over the vesting period. Share-based compensation expense is recorded as a component of salaries and employee benefits in the consolidated statements of operations for awards granted to management and as a component of other noninterest expense for awards granted to directors. The share-based compensation expense included in the consolidated statements of operations, is as follows (in thousands):


	Three months ended March 31,
	2025		2024
Salaries and employee benefits	$	453	$	528
Other noninterest expense		53		41
Total share-based compensation expense	$	506	$	569

Income tax benefit realized for compensation costs	$	338	$	286

At March 31, 2025, there was $7.4 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock awards and restricted stock units that is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.6 years.