STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

The three types of equity awards offered by the Company are stock options (“options”), restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) and restricted stock units (“RSUs”). Compensation related to options is accounted for by applying the valuation technique based on the Black-Scholes model. Compensation related to RSAs and RSUs is based on the fair market value at the time of grant with the application of an estimated forfeiture rate. The Company recognizes the compensation cost related to these awards over the requisite service period as determined by the grant, amortized ratably or on a straight line basis over the life of the grant. The Company utilizes “modified grant-date accounting” for true-ups due to actual forfeitures at the vesting dates. The Company records the tax savings resulting from tax deductions in excess of expense for stock-based compensation as additional paid-in capital and the tax deficiency resulting from stock-based compensation in excess of the related tax deduction as a reduction in paid-in capital, based on the Tax Law Ordering method. In addition, the Company reflects the tax savings (deficiency) resulting from the taxation of stock-based compensation as a financing cash flow in its consolidated statement of cash flows, rather than as an operating cash flow.

RSAs have the same cash dividend and voting rights as other common stock and are considered to be currently issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Shares of common stock underlying RSUs are not issued nor outstanding until the RSUs vest and RSUs do not have the same dividend and voting rights as common stock. However, all outstanding RSUs have accompanying dividend equivalents, requiring payment to the employees and directors with unvested RSUs of amounts equal to the dividend they would have received had the shares of common stock underlying the RSUs been actually issued and outstanding. Payments of dividend equivalents to employees are recorded as compensation expense.

The Company adopted the 2013 Equity Incentive Award Plan (the "2013 Plan") for the benefit of its eligible employees, consultants and non-employee directors on January 22, 2013. The 2013 Plan provides for awards covering up to (1) 600,000 shares of common stock plus (2) the number of shares that remained available for issuance as of January 22, 2013 under three equity participation plans previously maintained by the Company. The number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2013 Plan increases during the term of the plan by the number of shares relating to awards outstanding under the 2013 Plan or any of the prior plans that expire, or are forfeited, terminated, canceled or repurchased, or are settled in cash in lieu of shares and decreases due to award releases or option exercises. As of October 31, 2014, no more than an aggregate of 1,332,540 shares of the Company’s common stock will be issued under the 2013 Plan. The following table summarizes the shares authorized and shares available for future grants:



		Shares available to grant
	Shares authorized for issuance as of October 31, 2014 (including shares originally authorized for issuance under the prior plans)	February 28, 2015	August 31, 2014
2013 Plan	888,353	854,864	821,124

The following table summarizes the components of the stock-based compensation expense (in thousands), which are included in general and administrative expense and warehouse club operations in the consolidated statements of income:



	Three Months Ended February 28,				Six Months Ended February 28,
	2015		2014		2015		2014
Options granted to directors	$	9	$	7	$	37	$	37
Restricted stock awards	1,454		1,634		2,703		2,783
Restricted stock units	321		250		600		501
Stock-based compensation expense	$	1,784	$	1,891	$	3,340	$	3,321

The following table summarizes other information related to stock-based compensation:



	February 28,
	2015		2014
Remaining unrecognized compensation cost (in thousands)	$	18,045	$	23,520
Weighted average period of time over which this cost will be recognized (years)	6		6
Excess tax benefit (deficiency) on stock-based compensation (in thousands)	$	1,457	$	1,345

The Company began issuing restricted stock awards in fiscal year 2006 and restricted stock units in fiscal year 2008. The restricted stock awards and units vest over a five to ten year period, and the unvested portion of the award is forfeited if the employee or non-employee director leaves the Company before the vesting period is completed. Restricted stock awards and units activity for the period was as follows:



	Six Months Ended February 28,
	2015		2014
Grants outstanding at beginning of period	488,416		623,424
Granted	16,911		8,316
Forfeited	(720	)	(1,732	)
Vested	(136,779	)	(135,371	)
Grants outstanding at end of period	367,828		494,637

The following table summarizes the weighted average per share grant date fair value for restricted stock awards and units for the period:



	Six Months Ended February 28,
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value	2015		2014
Restricted stock awards and units granted	$	89.85	$	112.37
Restricted stock awards and units vested	$	44.21	$	39.71
Restricted stock awards and units forfeited	$	40.40	$	49.37

The following table summarizes the total fair market value of restricted stock awards and units vested for the period (in thousands):



	Six Months Ended February 28,
	2015		2013
Total fair market value of restricted stock awards and units vested	$	12,166	$	12,749

At the vesting dates of restricted stock awards, the Company repurchases shares at the prior day's closing price per share, with the funds used to pay the employees' minimum statutory tax withholding requirements. The Company expects to continue this practice going forward. The following table summarizes this activity during the period:



	Six Months Ended February 28,
	2015		2014
Shares repurchased	49,931		48,291
Cost of repurchase of shares (in thousands)	$	4,441	$	4,548

The Company reissues treasury shares as part of its stock-based compensation programs. The following table summarizes the treasury shares reissued:



	Six Months Ended February 28,
	2015	2014
Reissued treasury shares	—	—

The following table summarizes the stock options outstanding:



	February 28, 2015	August 31, 2014
Stock options outstanding	20,000	23,000

Due to the substantial shift from the use of stock options to restricted stock awards and units, the Company believes stock option activity is no longer significant and that any further disclosure on options is not necessary.