Note 10 - Equity

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

(10) Equity

Amended and Restated 2013 Omnibus Incentive Plan

The Company has adopted, and the Company’s shareholders have approved, the Amended and Restated 2013 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Omnibus Plan”). Under the Omnibus Plan, participants may be granted restricted stock units (“RSUs”), each of which represents an unfunded, unsecured right to receive a share of the Company’s common stock on the date specified in the recipient’s award. The Company issues new shares of its common stock when it is required to deliver shares to an RSU recipient. The RSUs granted under the Omnibus Plan vest over four years at a rate of 25% per year. The Company recognizes stock‑based compensation expense on a straight‑line basis over the four-year vesting term of each award.

A summary of RSU activity is as follows:

	Three Months Ended December 31, 2023
	Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Share
Non-vested balance at beginning of period		349,613	$	6.92
Granted		-		-
Vested		-		-
Forfeited		-		-
Non-vested balance at end of period		349,613	$	6.92

Additional information related to RSUs is as follows:

	December 31, 2023
	(In thousands, except years)
Unrecognized compensation expense related to RSUs	$	2,140
Weighted average remaining years to expense for RSUs		2.9

Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan

In January 2021, the Company adopted a Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan (the “DRSPP”), replacing the previous Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan that had been in place since 2018. The DRSPP provides shareholders and new investors with a convenient and economical means of purchasing shares of the Company’s common stock and reinvesting cash dividends paid on the Company’s common stock. Under the DRSPP, the Company issued 2,770 and 1,965 shares of common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the DRSPP is 1,470,000, of which 1,440,540 remained available for issuance as of December 31, 2023.

As discussed in Note 13, the Company began offering to investors an updated Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan in January 2024 that replaced the DRSPP.

Stock Buyback Program

In August 2010, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted a stock buyback program pursuant to which the Company was authorized to repurchase up to 1,500,000 shares of its common stock in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise. The program has no expiration date. In August 2022, the Board of Directors increased the number of shares that may be repurchased under the program to 2,000,000 shares. As a result, a total of 1,096,368 shares remains available for repurchase under the stock buyback program. The Company did not repurchase any shares of its common stock pursuant to the stock buyback program during the three months ended December 31, 2023.