STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Schedule of weighted average assumptions for valuing stock option grants

The weighted average assumptions used in the model for valuing stock option grants were as follows.

	2024			2023			2022
Dividend yield	1.26		%	1.55		%	—		%
Expected volatility	30		%	30		%	30		%
Risk-free interest rate	4.51		%	4.22		%	3.03		%
Expected average life	6.9 years			7.0 years			7.0 years
Weighted average per share fair value of options	$	28.44		$	24.24		$	30.99

Schedule of stock option activity

The Company’s stock option activity is summarized below.

Stock Options	Option Shares Outstanding	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Life (Years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)
Outstanding – December 31, 2021	1,833,246	$	57.69
Granted	132,929	81.04
Exercise of stock options *	(82,611)	41.84
Forfeited	(30,500)	75.08
Outstanding – December 31, 2022	1,853,064	$	59.79	5.9	$	37,526
Granted	39,000	71.99
Exercise of stock options *	(241,876)	43.54
Forfeited	(27,100)	84.37
Outstanding – December 31, 2023	1,623,088	$	62.09	5.3	$	30,126
Granted	85,000	80.18
Exercise of stock options *	(538,159)	49.55
Forfeited	(7,700)	71.68
Outstanding – December 31, 2024	1,162,229	$	69.16	5.4	$	41,577
Exercisable – December 31, 2024	806,572	$	65.13	4.5	$	32,089

*The terms of the stock option agreements permit having a number of shares of stock withheld, the fair market value of which as of the date of exercise is sufficient to satisfy the exercise price and/or tax withholding requirements, and accordingly 12,068 shares, 55,467 shares, and 7,957 shares were surrendered during 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.

Schedule of options outstanding

The following options were outstanding at December 31, 2024.

	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price				Weighted Average Remaining Life (Years)
	Outstanding	Exercisable	Outstanding		Exercisable		Outstanding	Exercisable
$37.18 – $50.00	189,500	189,500	$	47.50	$	47.50	2.3	2.3
$50.01 – $60.00	142,000	142,000	56.37		56.37		2.9	2.9
$60.01 – $70.00	21,000	13,400	64.51		64.28		6.3	5.4
$70.01 – $80.00	751,800	443,500	75.72		74.60		6.5	5.8
$80.01 – $109.82	57,929	18,172	87.92		86.89		7.8	7.2
	1,162,229	806,572	$	69.16	$	65.13	5.4	4.5

Schedule of restricted stock

The Company’s restricted stock activity is summarized below.

Restricted Stock	Restricted Shares Outstanding	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair  Value
Outstanding – December 31, 2021	25,801	$	71.42
Granted	72,948	76.81
Vested *	(24,659)	72.64
Forfeited	(600)	56.01
Outstanding – December 31, 2022	73,490	$	76.49
Granted	19,213	64.28
Vested *	(35,545)	69.69
Forfeited	—	—
Outstanding – December 31, 2023	57,158	$	76.61
Granted	64,564	100.77
Vested *	(28,209)	78.10
Forfeited	—	—
Outstanding – December 31, 2024	93,513	$	92.84

*The terms of the restricted stock agreements permit the surrender of shares to the Company upon vesting in order to satisfy applicable tax withholding at the minimum statutory withholding rate, and accordingly 6,653 shares, 3,637 shares, and 2,249 shares were surrendered during 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.