STOCK COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Option Awards

A summary of the Company’s stock option activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 is as follows:


	Options		Weighted- average exercise price		Weighted- average remaining contractual life (years)	Aggregate intrinsic value (in thousands)
Options outstanding, January 1, 2021	1,286,900		$	13.28
Grants	48,000		14.18
Exercises (1)	(235,325)		11.70

Expirations	(4,000)		19.10
Options outstanding, September 30, 2021	1,095,575		13.64		5.1	$	5,153
Options exercisable, September 30, 2021	912,115		$	14.31	4.5	$	3,700
Total unrecognized stock option expense remaining (in thousands)	$	560
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	1.6

(1) Includes the exercise of 1,000 options settled in cash in accordance with the Company’s Amended and Restated 2000 Long-Term Incentive Plan ("the Plan").

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their stock options on September 30, 2021. The intrinsic value is calculated for each in-the-money stock option as the difference between the closing price of the Company’s common stock on September 30, 2021 and the exercise price.

Restricted Stock

A summary of the Company’s restricted stock activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 is as follows:


	Restricted Shares		Weighted- average grant date fair value
Non-vested restricted shares, January 1, 2021	795,587		$	7.54
Grants	220,658		14.27
Vested	(552,880)		7.07
Cancellations	(400)		11.42
Non-vested restricted shares, September 30, 2021	462,965		$	11.31
Total unrecognized compensation expense remaining (in thousands)	$	4,272
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	1.7

The total fair value of restricted stock that vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $8.4 million.

Performance shares

Each performance award represents the right to receive up to 150% of the target number of shares of common stock. The number of shares of common stock earned will be determined based on the attainment of specified performance goals at the end of the performance period, as determined by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The shares are subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s Plan.

A summary of the Company’s performance-based award activity and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 is as follows:


	Performance- based stock awards (1)		Weighted- average grant date fair value
Non-vested performance-based awards, January 1, 2021	431,046		$	9.94
Grants	176,915		14.18
Vested	(150,273)		12.79
Cancellations	(21,358)		12.76
Non-vested performance-based awards, September 30, 2021	436,330		$	10.54
Total unrecognized compensation expense remaining (in thousands)	$	2,793
Weighted-average years expected to be recognized over	2.0

(1)Represents the target number of shares to be issued for each performance-based award.

The total fair value of performance-based awards that vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $2.1 million.

At September 30, 2021, there were 357,858 shares available for awards that could be granted under the Plan, assuming maximum performance of performance-based awards.

The Company recorded stock compensation expense as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
Stock Compensation Expense Components	2021		2020		2021		2020
Equity based stock option expense	$	95	$	143	$	321	$	428
Restricted and performance-based stock awards expense	1,097		1,427		3,633		3,877
Stock compensation expense for equity based awards	$	1,192	$	1,570	$	3,954	$	4,305
Liability based stock option expense	9		5		19		16
Total Stock Compensation Expense	$	1,201	$	1,575	$	3,973	$	4,321