EQUITY AWARDS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

NOTE 6 – EQUITY AWARDS

The Company’s 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) was adopted by the Company and approved by its shareholders in April 2015. The maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to stock-based awards under the Plan equals 1,100,000 shares, all of which may be subject to incentive stock option treatment. Option awards are generally granted with an exercise price equal to the market price of the Company’s common stock at the date of grant; those option awards have vesting periods ranging from 5 to 10 years and have 10-year contractual terms. Restricted stock awards vest under the period of restriction specified within their respective award agreements as determined by the Company. Forfeitures are recognized as they occur, subject to a 90-day grace period for vested options.

The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using a closed form option valuation (Black-Scholes) model that uses the assumptions noted in the table below. Expected volatilities are based on historical volatilities of the Company’s common stock and similar peer group averages. The Company uses historical data to estimate option exercise and post-vesting termination behavior. The expected term of options granted is based on historical data and represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding, which takes in to account that the options are not transferable. The dividend yield is the total dividends per share paid during the period divided by the average of the Company's stock price on each date a grant was issued. The risk-free interest rate for the expected term of the option is based on U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant.

A summary of stock option activity in the Plan during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 follows:


Three Months Ended March 31, 2024	Number of Shares			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		465,680		$	28.12		5.46	$	2,782
Granted		2,500			30.49
Exercised		(3,300	)		20.91
Forfeited		(10,500	)		34.84
Balance, March 31, 2024		454,380		$	28.03		5.20	$	1,632

Exercisable at end of period		294,880		$	26.28		3.77	$	1,378


Three Months Ended March 31, 2023	Number of Shares			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		497,820		$	28.07		5.87	$	3,402
Granted		15,500			29.91
Exercised		(8,800	)		25.57
Forfeited		(15,440	)		30.42
Balance, March 31, 2023		489,080		$	28.10		5.77	$	1,037

Exercisable at end of period		281,500		$	25.57		4.26	$	850

A summary of nonvested stock option activity in the Plan during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 follows:


Three Months Ended March 31, 2024	Number of Shares			Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		182,570		$	6.10
Granted		2,500			5.28
Vested		(17,170	)		5.53
Forfeited		(8,400	)		8.95
Balance, March 31, 2024		159,500		$	6.09


Three Months Ended March 31, 2023	Number of Shares			Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		216,480		$	5.95
Granted		15,500			6.02
Vested		(18,200	)		5.62
Forfeited		(6,200	)		13.10
Balance, March 31, 2023		207,580		$	5.99

Information related to stock options in the Plan is as follows for the three months ended:


	March 31, 2024		March 31, 2023
Intrinsic value of options exercised	$	31	$	22
Cash received from options exercised		69		225
Weighted average fair value of options granted		5.28		6.02

Restricted Stock Awards

A summary of restricted stock activity in the Plan during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 follows:


Three Months Ended March 31, 2024	Number of Shares			Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		15,390		$	28.87
Granted		2,388			30.49
Vested		(3,511	)		5.31
Forfeited		(221	)		34.10
Balance, March 31, 2024		14,046		$	29.14


Three Months Ended March 31, 2023	Number of Shares			Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of year		18,930		$	27.51
Granted		1,474			34.10
Vested		(2,970	)		27.50
Forfeited		(880	)		27.78
Balance, March 31, 2023		16,554		$	29.03

Restricted stock granted to employees typically vests over five years, but vesting periods may vary. Compensation expense for these grants will be recognized over the vesting period of the awards based on the fair value of the stock at the issue date.

As of March 31, 2024, there was $1,256 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested stock options granted under the Plan. The expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.99 years.

The Company granted options under the Plan during the first three months of 2024 and 2023. Expense of $138 and $148 was recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which represents the fair value of shares, restricted stock and stock options vested during those periods.