(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 31, 2016, 706,298 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 $5,782, $5,137 and $4,461 of compensation expense (included in selling, general and administrative expenses) in the 2016, 2015 and 2014 fiscal years, respectively. The associated tax benefits recorded in the 2016, 2015 and 2014 fiscal years was $2,197, $1,952 and $1,695, respectively.

(11) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Continued)

At December 31, 2016, the amount of unrecognized stock option compensation expense, to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.15 years, was approximately $9,872.

The Company uses a binomial option pricing model to value its stock options. The fair value of each option grant made in 2016, 2015 and 2014 was estimated using the following assumptions:



	2016		2015		2014
Expected volatility	33.88	%	34.13	%	32.27	%
Risk-free interest rate	1.83	%	1.58	%	1.43	%
Expected life from vesting date	3.0 yrs		3.0 yrs		3.0 yrs
Dividend yield	1.13	%	0.94	%	0.75	%

Following is a summary of the activity of the stock plans during 2014, 2015 and 2016:



	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.

(11) STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Continued)



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 26, 2015	849,609		$	117.42
Granted	85,092		151.37
Exercised	(109,893	)	101.69
Forfeited	(31,635	)	129.36
Outstanding at December 31, 2016	793,173		$	122.77	4.78	$	16,640
Options vested or expected to vest at December 31, 2016	774,139		$	124.18	4.75	16,200
Options exercisable at December 31, 2016	469,844		$	123.75	3.96	9,056

The weighted average per share fair value of options granted during 2016 was $40.00.

Following is a summary of the status of stock options outstanding at December 31, 2016:



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
$83.94 - 105.44	347,914	5.06 years	$	100.47	162,533	$	95.93
$110.33 - 132.84	147,717	4.95 years	132.17		94,517	132.44
$136.42 - 151.90	297,542	4.36 years	144.18		212,794	141.15
	793,173				469,844

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 settled in Company stock when the restriction period ends. During fiscal 2016, 2015 and 2014, 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):



	2016		2015		2014
Shares issued	58,961		47,038		35,885
Weighted‑average per share price on grant date	$	150.48	$	108.97	$	136.91
Recognized compensation expense	$	4,069	$	4,511	$	3,978

At December 31, 2016 the amount of deferred stock‑based compensation granted, to be recognized over a weighted‑average period of 1.86 years, was approximately $11,896.