Stock-Based Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Stock Options:

A summary of option activity under our 1998 Stock Option Plan as of December 31, 2014, and changes during the nine months ended September 30, 2015 is presented below.



	Number of Stock Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)
Outstanding, December 31, 2014	432,269		$	17.55	10.10	$	2,786
Granted	50,000		22.90
Exercised	(63,500	)	11.56
Canceled/Forfeited	(1,500	)	30.41
Outstanding, September 30, 2015	417,269		$	19.06	5.31	$	954
Exercisable, September 30, 2015	313,766		$	17.10	4.12	$	947

The following table summarizes information about our stock options outstanding at September 30, 2015:



Range of Exercise Prices	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Shares	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price
$0.01-15.70	94,852	3.48	$	11.23	94,852	$	11.23
$15.71-17.81	95,250	3.93	17.55		95,250	17.55
$17.82-20.48	119,667	4.52	19.58		106,167	19.69
$20.49-33.36	107,500	9.00	26.72		17,497	30.69
	417,269	5.31	$	19.06	313,766	$	17.10

The summary of the status of our unvested stock options as of December 31, 2014 and changes during the nine months ended September 30, 2015 is presented below.



Unvested stock options:	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested at December 31, 2014	91,834		$	14.19
Granted	50,000		10.33
Vested	(36,831	)	13.12
Canceled/Forfeited	(1,500	)	16.79
Unvested at September 30, 2015	103,503		$	12.66

As of September 30, 2015, there was $868,663 of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested options. Such cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years. Total compensation expense for stock options was $429,925 and $297,522 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Restricted Stock:

In accordance with the Company's employment agreement with Stephen Taylor, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, the Compensation Committee reviewed his performance in determining the issuance of restricted common stock. Based on this review which included consideration of the Company's 2014 performance, Mr. Taylor, was awarded 83,590 restricted shares on January 16, 2015, which vest one year from the date of grant. On March 19, 2015, the Compensation Committee awarded 20,000 shares of restricted common stock to each of G. Larry Lawrence, our CFO, and James Hazlett, our Vice President of Technical Services. The restricted shares to Messrs. Hazlett and Lawrence vest one year from the grant date. We also awarded and issued 21,968 shares of restricted common stock to our Board of Directors as partial payment for 2015 directors' fees. The restricted stock issued to our directors vests over one year, in quarterly installments, beginning March 31, 2016. Total compensation expense related to restricted stock awards was $2,186,330 and $2,140,233 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively. As of September 30, 2015, there was a total of $1,211,952 of unrecognized compensation expense related to these shares which is expected to be recognized over the next fifteen months.