On March 16, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved and adopted the 2017 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), which became effective May 24, 2017, the date approved by the Company’s shareholders. The 2017 Plan replaced the Company’s 2007 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2007 Plan”), which expired by its own terms on March 15, 2017. Options to purchase 161,089 shares that were granted under the 2007 Plan were still outstanding as of September 30, 2022 and remain unaffected by that plan’s expiration. The 2017 Plan provides for the issuance of both “incentive” and “nonqualified” stock options to officers and employees, and of “nonqualified” stock options to non-employee directors and consultants of the Company. The 2017 Plan also provides for the issuance of restricted stock awards to these same classes of eligible participants. The total number of shares of the Company’s authorized but unissued stock reserved for issuance pursuant to awards under the 2017 Plan was initially 850,000 shares, and the number remaining available for grant as of September 30, 2022 was 451,577. Options to purchase 339,057 shares granted under the 2017 Plan were outstanding as of September 30, 2022. The potential dilutive impact of unexercised stock options is discussed below in Note 5, Earnings per Share.

Pursuant to FASB’s standards on stock compensation, the value of each stock option and restricted stock award is reflected in our income statement as employee compensation or directors’ expense by amortizing its grant date fair value over the vesting period of the option or award. The Company utilizes a Black-Scholes model to determine grant date fair values for options, while the market price of the Company’s common stock at the date of grant is used for restricted stock awards. Forfeitures are reflected in compensation costs as they occur for both types of awards. A pre-tax charge of $0.3 million was reflected in the Company’s income statement during the third quarter of 2022 and $0.2 million was charged during the third quarter of 2021, as expense related to stock options and restricted stock awards. For the first nine months, the charges totaled $1.0 million in 2022 and $0.7 million in 2021.

The Company’s Restricted Stock Awards are awards of either time-vested or performance-based shares. The Restricted Stock Awards are non-transferrable shares of common stock and are available to be granted to the Company’s employees and directors. The vesting period of Restricted Stock Awards is determined at the time the awards are issued, and different awards may have different vesting terms or performance measures; provided, however, that no installment of any Restricted Stock Award shall become vested less than one year from the grant date. Restricted Stock Awards are valued utilizing the fair value of the Company’s stock at the grant date. These awards are expensed on a straight-line basis over the vesting period and consider the probability of meeting the performance criteria. There were no shares granted to employees and directors of the Company during the first nine months of 2022. As of September 30, 2022, there was $2.0 million of unamortized compensation cost related to unvested Restricted Stock Awards granted under the 2017 plan. That cost is expected to be amortized over a weighted average period of 2.7 years.

The Company’s restricted stock award activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 is summarized below (unaudited):

The Company has issued equity instruments in the form of Incentive Stock Options and Nonqualified Stock Options to certain officers and directors and may continue to do so under the 2017 Plan. The exercise price of each stock option is determined at the time of the grant and may be no less than 100% of the fair market value of such stock at the time the option is granted.

The Company’s stock option activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 are summarized below (dollars in thousands, except per share data, unaudited):

(1)

The aggregate intrinsic value of stock option in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the amount by which the current market value of the underlying stock exceeds the exercise price of the option) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their options on September 30, 2022. This amount changes based on changes in the market value of the Company's stock.