STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY [Abstract]

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

11. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Common Stock

Holders of our Common Stock are entitled to receive dividends when and as declared by our Board of Directors and have the right to one vote per share on all matters requiring shareholder approval. The Company has not declared or paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock since the Company’s Board of Directors discontinued our quarterly cash dividend program in February 2015.  The Company has no current intentions to resume the payment of cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Preferred Stock

On November 30, 2022, the Company exercised in full its right of mandatory conversion of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock. In connection with the conversion, each share of Series A Preferred Stock has been cancelled and converted into the right to receive 423,729 shares of the Company’s Common Stock, no par value per share. Shares of the Series A Preferred Stock are no longer outstanding and all rights of the holders to receive future dividends have terminated. As a result of the conversion, the aggregate 12,700 shares of Series A Preferred Stock outstanding were converted into 5,381,356 shares of Common Stock.

Dividends

Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock (“Series A Dividends”), at the initial annual rate of 9.6% is to be paid, in arrears, from the date of issuance quarterly on each December 31, March 31, June 30 and September 30 with September 30, 2020 being the first dividend payment date.  As of December 31, 2022, we have paid $1.1 million in cash dividends on the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock.  With the exercise of the mandatory conversion of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock there will not be any additional dividend payment related to the Series A Preferred Stock going forward.  Dividends are included in the consolidated balance sheets within additional paid-in-capital when the Company maintains an accumulated deficit.

Treasury Stock

On May 24, 2022, the Board of Directors authorized the cancellation of 5,910,541 shares of Treasury Stock, which reduced Treasury Stock and Common Stock by $82.9 million.

Restricted Stock

The Company currently has three stock incentive plans: a Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “LTIP”), a Non-Employee Directors Restricted Stock Plan (the “Non-Employee Directors Plan”) and the Lincoln Educational Services Corporation 2020 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2020 Plan”).

2020 Plan

On March 26, 2020, the Board adopted the 2020 Plan to provide an incentive to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company to align their interests in the Company’s success with those of its shareholders through the grant of equity-based awards. On June 16, 2020, the shareholders of the Company approved the 2020 Plan.  The 2020 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board, or such other qualified committee appointed by the Board, who will, among other duties, have full power and authority to take all actions and to make all determinations required or provided for under the 2020 Plan. Pursuant to the 2020 Plan, the Company may grant options, share appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted share units, incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options.  The Plan has a duration of 10 years.

Subject to adjustment as described in the 2020 Plan, the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the 2020 Plan was 840,807 shares.

LTIP

Under the LTIP, certain employees have received awards of restricted shares of Common Stock based on service and performance.  The number of shares granted to each employee is based on the amount of the award and the fair market value of a share of Common Stock on the date of grant. The 2020 Plan makes it clear that there will be no new grants under the LTIP effective as of the date of shareholder approval, June 16, 2020.  The 2020 Plan also states that the shares available under the 2020 Plan will be two million shares plus the number of shares remaining available under the LTIP.  As no shares remain available under the LTIP there can be no additional grants under the LTIP. Grants under the LTIP remain in effect according to their terms.  Therefore, those grants are subject to the particular award agreement relating thereto and to the LTIP to the extent that the prior plan provides rules relating to those grants.  The LTIP remains in effect only to that extent.

Non-Employee Directors Plan

Pursuant to the Non-Employee Directors Plan, each non-employee director of the Company receives an annual award of Restricted Shares of Common Stock on the date of the Company’s annual meeting of shareholders.  The number of shares granted to each non-employee director is based on the fair market value of a share of Common Stock on that date.  The Restricted Shares vest on the first anniversary of the grant date.  There is no restriction on the right to vote or the right to receive dividends with respect to any of such Restricted Shares.

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company completed a net share settlement for 276,274 and 154,973 Restricted Shares, respectively, on behalf of certain employees that participate in the LTIP upon the vesting of the Restricted Shares pursuant to the terms of the LTIP.  The net share settlement was in connection with income taxes incurred on Restricted Shares that vested and were transferred to the employees during 2022 and/or 2021, creating taxable income for the employees.  At the employees’ request, the Company will pay these taxes on behalf of the employees in exchange for the employees returning an equivalent value of restricted shares to the Company.  These transactions resulted in a decrease of $2.0 million and $1.0 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, to equity on the consolidated balance sheets as the cash payment of the taxes effectively was a repurchase of the restricted shares granted in previous years.

The following is a summary of transactions pertaining to Restricted Stock:

	Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Nonvested restricted stock outstanding at December 31, 2020		1,572,159		$	2.77
Granted		679,331			5.99
Cancelled		-			-
Vested		(507,644	)		3.30
Nonvested restricted stock outstanding at December 31, 2021		1,743,846			3.89
Granted		606,950			7.21
Cancelled		-			-
Vested		(802,530	)		4.18
Nonvested restricted stock outstanding at December 31, 2022		1,548,266			5.18

The Restricted Stock expense for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $3.1 million and $2.9 million, respectively.  The unrecognized Restricted Stock expense as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $7.9 million and $4.4 million, respectively.  As of December 31, 2022, outstanding Restricted Shares under the LTIP had aggregate intrinsic value of $8.9 million.

Stock Options

The fair value of the stock options used to compute stock-based compensation is the estimated present value at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.  The following is a summary of transactions pertaining to stock options:

	Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding January 1, 2020		116,000		$	10.56	1.83 years	$	-
Cancelled		(35,000	)		16.95	-		-
Outstanding December 31, 2020		81,000			7.79	1.17 years		-
Cancelled		-			-			-
Outstanding December 31, 2021		81,000			7.79	0.17 years		-
Cancelled		(81,000	)		7.79			-
Outstanding December 31, 2022		-			-	-		-
Vested as of December 31, 2022		-			-	-		-
Exercisable as of December 31, 2022		-			-	-		-

As of December 31, 2022, there was no unrecognized pre-tax compensation expense.

Share Repurchase Program

On May 24, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had authorized a share repurchase program of up to $30.0 million of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock.  The repurchase program was authorized for 12 months. Pursuant to the program, purchases may be made, from time to time, in open-market transactions at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means as determined by the Company’s management and in accordance with applicable federal securities laws. The timing of purchases and the number of shares repurchased under the program will depend on a variety of factors including price, trading volume, corporate and regulatory requirements and market conditions. The Company retains the right to limit, terminate or extend the share repurchase program at any time without prior notice.  During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, the Company repurchased 1,572,414 shares of its Common Stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $9.4 million.  These shares were subsequently canceled and recorded as a reduction of Common Stock.

On February 27, 2023, the Board of Director extended the share repurchase program for an additional 12 months and authorized the repurchase of an additional $10 million of the Company’s Common Stock, for an aggregate of up to $30.6 million in additional repurchases.