STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY [Abstract]

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12. 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 two stock incentive plans: the Lincoln Educational Services Corporation 2020 Long-Term Incentive Compensation Plan (the “LTIP”) and the 2005 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “Prior Plan”).

LTIP

On March 26, 2020, the Board of Directors adopted the LTIP 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 LTIP.  The LTIP is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, or such other qualified committee appointed by the Board of Directors, which will, among other duties, have the full power and authority to take all actions and make all determinations required or provided for under the LTIP. Pursuant to the LTIP, the Company may grant options, share appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted share units, incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options.  Under the LTIP, employees may surrender shares as payment of applicable income tax withholding on the vested Restricted Stock.  The LTIP has a duration of 10 years. On February 23, 2023, the Board of Directors approved, subject to shareholder approval, the amendment of the LTIP to increase the aggregate number of shares available under the LTIP from 2,000,000 shares to 4,000,000 shares. The amendment was approved and adopted by the shareholders at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on May 5, 2023.

Prior Plan

Under the Prior Plan, 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 the grant. The LTIP makes it clear that there will be no new grants under the Prior Plan as of June 16, 2020, the date of shareholder approval of the LTIP.  As no shares remain available under the Prior Plan, there can be no additional grants under the Prior Plan. Grants under the Prior Plan remain in effect according to their terms.  Therefore, those grants remaining in effect under the Prior Plan are subject to the particular award agreement relating thereto and to the Prior Plan to the extent that the Prior Plan provides rules relating to those grants.  The Prior Plan remains in effect only to that extent.

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, the Company completed a net share settlement for 337,050 and 268,654 restricted shares on behalf of certain employees that participate in the LTIP and the Prior Plan upon the vesting of the restricted shares pursuant to the terms of the LTIP and the Prior Plan.  The net share settlement was in connection with income taxes incurred on restricted shares that vested and were transferred to the employees during 2023 and/or 2022, creating taxable income for the employees.  At the employees’ request, the Company has paid 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 $2.0 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, 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, 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
Granted		751,240			6.10
Cancelled		(37,941	)		6.15
Vested		(862,890	)		3.76
Nonvested restricted stock outstanding at December 31, 2023		1,398,675			5.16

The Restricted Stock expense for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $5.9 million and $3.1 million, respectively.  The unrecognized Restricted Stock expense as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $4.3 million and $7.9 million, respectively.  As of December 31, 2023, outstanding Restricted Shares under the LTIP had aggregate intrinsic value of $14.0 million.

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.

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 $10.0 million of the Company’s Common Stock, for an aggregate of up to $30.6 million in additional repurchases.

The following table presents information about our repurchases of Common Stock, all of which were completed through open market purchases:

	Year Ended
	December 31,
(in thousands, except share data)	2023		2022
Total number of shares repurchased1		165,064		1,572,414
Total cost of shares repurchased	$	891	$	9,445

¹ These shares were subsequently canceled and recorded as a reduction of Common Stock.