(11) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

The Company maintains stock‑based compensation plans approved by the shareholders, which provide that the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors may grant incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, non-vested stock awards and bonuses of common stock. At December 26, 2015, 868,157 shares of common stock remained available for issuance under the plans. Shares and options issued and available are subject to changes in capitalization. The Company’s policy is to issue shares upon exercise of stock options from treasury shares held by the Company.

Under the stock option plans, the exercise price of each option equals the market price at the time of the grant. Options vest beginning on the first anniversary of the grant in equal amounts over three to six years or on the fifth anniversary of the grant. Expiration of grants is from six to ten years from the date of grant. The Company recorded $5,137, $4,461 and $5,194 of compensation expense (included in selling, general and administrative expenses) in the 2015, 2014 and 2013 fiscal years, respectively. The associated tax benefits recorded in the 2015, 2014 and 2013 fiscal years was $1,952, $1,695 and $1,974, respectively.

At December 26, 2015, the amount of unrecognized stock option compensation expense, to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.42 years, was approximately $12,939.

The Company uses a binomial option pricing model to value its stock options. The fair value of each option grant made in 2015, 2014 and 2013 was estimated using the following assumptions:



	2015		2014		2013
Expected volatility	34.13	%	32.27	%	33.26	%
Risk-free interest rate	1.58	%	1.43	%	1.16	%
Expected life from vesting date	3.0 yrs		3.0 yrs		3.0 yrs
Dividend yield	0.94	%	0.75	%	0.72	%

Following is a summary of the activity of the stock plans during 2013, 2014 and 2015:



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price			Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 29, 2012	868,992		$	84.91
Granted	155,254		144.86
Exercised	(216,105	)	(72.17		)
Forfeited	(12,920	)	(129.08		)
Outstanding at December 28, 2013	795,221		$	99.29		4.56	$	39,994
Options vested or expected to vest at December 28, 2013	775,237		$	98.41		4.51	39,678
Options exercisable at December 28, 2013	464,377		$	81.73		3.58	31,508

The weighted average per share fair value of options granted during 2013, was $37.88.

(11) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Continued)



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price			Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 28, 2013	795,221		$	99.29
Granted	177,717		132.94
Exercised	(194,627	)	(71.67		)
Forfeited	(9,716	)	(126.23		)
Outstanding at December 27, 2014	768,595		$	113.72		4.74	$	15,983
Options vested or expected to vest at December 27, 2014	746,974		$	113.06		4.69	15,981
Options exercisable at December 27, 2014	450,539		$	97.29		3.59	15,944

The weighted average per share fair value of options granted during 2014 was $33.94.



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 27, 2014	768,595		$	113.72
Granted	291,708		104.89
Exercised	(169,493	)	74.37
Forfeited	(41,201	)	137.02
Outstanding at December 26, 2015	849,609		$	117.42	5.18	$	4,536
Options vested or expected to vest at December 26, 2015	818,300		$	117.61	5.13	4,456
Options exercisable at December 26, 2015	409,068		$	119.43	3.74	3,376

The weighted average per share fair value of options granted during 2015 was $27.91.

Following is a summary of the status of stock options outstanding at December 26, 2015:



Outstanding and Exercisable By Price Range
Options Outstanding					Options Exercisable
Exercise Price Range	Number	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Number	Weighted Average Exercise Price
$60.97 - 85.32	136,288	2.08 years	$	83.78	136,103	$	83.78
$104.47 - 110.33	297,221	6.78 years	104.68		12,181	109.50
$120.91 - 151.45	416,100	5.05 years	137.55		260,784	138.51
	849,609				409,068

In accordance with shareholder-approved plans, the Company grants stock under various stock‑based compensation arrangements, including non-vested stock and stock issued in lieu of cash bonuses. Under such arrangements, stock is issued without direct cost to the employee. In addition, the Company grants restricted stock units. The restricted stock units are

(11) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Continued)

settled in Company stock when the restriction period ends. During fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013, the Company granted non-vested stock and restricted stock units to directors and certain management employees as follows (which are not included in the above stock plan activity tables):



	2015		2014		2013
Shares issued	47,038		35,885		47,271
Weighted‑average per share price on grant date	$	108.97	$	136.91	$	146.72
Compensation expense	$	4,511	$	3,978	$	3,667

At December 26, 2015 the amount of deferred stock‑based compensation granted, to be recognized over a weighted‑average period of 1.74 years, was approximately $7,772.