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Equity Compensation Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Equity Compensation Plans EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS
The Company’s Amended and Restated 2014 Long-Term Equity Compensation Plan, subject to certain conditions, authorizes the issuance of incentive and non-qualified stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights and other similar awards to the Company’s employees, non-employee directors, consultants and advisors in connection with compensation and incentive arrangements that may be established by the Company’s board of directors or executive management.
The following table summarizes the Company’s unvested restricted shares as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019:

Unvested
Restricted
Shares

Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per
Restricted Share
Balance as of January 1, 2017
542

 
$
15.28

Shares granted (a)
285

 
$
14.60

Shares vested
(291
)
 
$
15.44

Shares forfeited
(40
)
 
$
15.12

Balance as of December 31, 2017
496

 
$
14.81

Shares granted (a)
382

 
$
12.81

Shares vested
(426
)
 
$
14.52

Shares forfeited
(12
)
 
$
13.26

Balance as of December 31, 2018
440


$
13.40

Shares granted (a)
469


$
12.22

Shares vested
(358
)

$
13.29

Shares forfeited
(16
)

$
12.77

Balance as of December 31, 2019 (b)
535


$
12.46

(a)
Shares granted in 2017, 2018 and 2019 vest over periods ranging from one year to three years, 0.9 years to three years and 0.9 years to three years, respectively, in accordance with the terms of applicable award agreements.
(b)
As of December 31, 2019, total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted shares was $2,052, which is expected to be amortized over a weighted average term of 1.2 years.
In addition, during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, performance restricted stock units (RSUs) were granted to the Company’s executives. Following the three-year performance period, one-third of the RSUs that are earned will convert into shares of common stock and two-thirds will convert into restricted shares with a one year vesting term. As long as the minimum hurdle is achieved and the executive remains employed during the performance period, the RSUs will convert into shares of common stock and restricted shares at a conversion rate of between 50% and 200% based upon the Company’s Total Shareholder Return (TSR) as compared to that of the peer companies within the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) Shopping Center Index (Peer Companies) for the respective performance period. If an executive terminates employment during the performance period by reason of a qualified termination, as defined in the award agreement, a prorated portion of his or her outstanding RSUs will be eligible for conversion based upon the period in which the executive was employed during the performance period. If an executive terminates for any reason other than a qualified termination during the performance period, he or she would forfeit his or her outstanding RSUs. Following the performance period, additional shares of common stock will also be issued in an amount equal to the accumulated value of the dividends that would have been paid on the earned awards during the performance period. The Company calculated the grant date fair values per unit using Monte Carlo simulations based on the probabilities of satisfying the market performance hurdles over the remainder of the performance period.
The following table summarizes the Company’s unvested RSUs as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019:
 
Unvested
RSUs
 
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per RSU
RSUs eligible for future conversion as of January 1, 2017
391

 
$
14.02

RSUs granted (a)
253

 
$
15.52

RSUs ineligible for conversion
(89
)
 
$
14.68

RSUs eligible for future conversion as of December 31, 2017
555

 
$
14.60

RSUs granted (b)
291

 
$
14.36

Conversion of RSUs to common stock and restricted shares (c)
(141
)
 
$
14.10

RSUs ineligible for conversion
(56
)
 
$
15.36

RSUs eligible for future conversion as of December 31, 2018
649

 
$
14.54

RSUs granted (d)
382

 
$
10.98

Conversion of RSUs to common stock and restricted shares (e)
(192
)
 
$
13.74

RSUs eligible for future conversion as of December 31, 2019 (f) (g)
839

 
$
13.10

(a)
Assumptions and inputs as of the grant date included a risk-free interest rate of 1.50%, the Company’s historical common stock performance relative to the peer companies within the NAREIT Shopping Center Index and the Company’s common stock dividend yield of 4.32%.
(b)
Assumptions and inputs as of the grant dates included a weighted average risk-free interest rate of 2.04%, the Company’s historical common stock performance relative to the peer companies within the NAREIT Shopping Center Index and the Company’s weighted average common stock dividend yield of 5.00%.
(c)
On February 5, 2018, 141 RSUs converted into 42 shares of common stock and 65 restricted shares that vested on December 31, 2018, after applying a conversion rate of 76% based upon the Company’s TSR relative to the TSRs of its Peer Companies, for the performance period that concluded on December 31, 2017. An additional 16 shares of common stock were also issued representing the dividends that would have been paid on the earned awards during the performance period.
(d)
Assumptions and inputs as of the grant date included a risk-free interest rate of 2.47%, the Company’s historical common stock performance relative to the peer companies within the NAREIT Shopping Center Index and the Company’s common stock dividend yield of 6.07%.
(e)
On February 4, 2019, 192 RSUs converted into 82 shares of common stock and 125 restricted shares that vested on December 31, 2019, after applying a conversion rate of 107.5% based upon the Company’s TSR relative to the TSRs of its Peer companies, for the performance period that concluded on December 31, 2018. An additional 29 shares of common stock were also issued representing the dividends that would have been paid on the earned awards during the performance period.
(f)
As of December 31, 2019, total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested RSUs was $4,856, which is expected to be amortized over a weighted average term of 1.9 years.
(g)
Subsequent to December 31, 2019, 196 RSUs converted into 105 shares of common stock and 175 restricted shares with a one year vesting term after applying a conversion rate of 142.5% based upon the Company’s TSR relative to the TSRs of its Peer Companies, for the performance period that concluded on December 31, 2019. An additional 43 shares of common stock were also issued representing the dividends that would have been paid on the earned awards during the performance period.
During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company recorded compensation expense of $7,559, $6,992 and $6,059, respectively, related to the amortization of unvested restricted shares and RSUs. Included within the amortization of stock-based compensation expense recorded during the year ended December 31, 2018 is compensation expense of $330 related to the accelerated vesting of 23 restricted shares and remaining amortization related to the 29 RSUs that remained eligible for future conversion in conjunction with the departure of the Company’s former Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Included within the amortization of stock-based compensation expense recorded during the year ended December 31, 2017 is the reversal of $830 of previously recognized compensation expense related to the forfeiture of 34 restricted shares and 89 RSUs resulting from the 2017 resignation of the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. In addition, $30 of dividends previously paid on the forfeited restricted shares were reclassified from distributions paid into compensation expense. The total fair value of restricted shares that vested during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $4,448, $5,091 and $4,232, respectively. In addition, the total fair value of RSUs that converted into common stock during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 was $1,052 and $486, respectively.
Prior to 2013, non-employee directors had been granted options to acquire shares under the Company’s Third Amended and Restated Independent Director Stock Option and Incentive Plan. Options to purchase a total of 84 shares of common stock had been granted under the plan. As of December 31, 2019, options to purchase 16 shares of common stock remained outstanding and
exercisable. The Company did not grant any options in 2019, 2018 or 2017 and no compensation expense related to stock options was recorded during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.