Stockholder’s Equity

Equity Based Awards

The 2010 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2010 Incentive Plan”) is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors. A total of 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were reserved and 391,414 shares are currently available for issuance pursuant to awards granted under the 2010 Incentive Plan. A variety of discretionary awards for employees, officers, directors, and consultants are authorized under the 2010 Incentive Plan, including incentive or non-qualified statutory stock options and nonvested stock. All awards must be evidenced by a written award certificate which will include the provisions specified by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee determines the exercise price for non-statutory stock options. The exercise price for any option cannot be less than the fair market value of the Company’s common stock as of the date of grant.

Share Based Compensation

Nonvested Stock

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company’s independent directors were granted 11,700 nonvested shares of common stock under the Second Amended and Restated 2005 Non-Employee Directors Compensation Plan. The shares were drawn from the 1,500,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2010 Incentive Plan. The shares vest 100% on the one year anniversary date. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, employees were granted 139,310 nonvested shares of common stock pursuant to the 2010 Incentive Plan. The shares vest over a period of five years, conditioned on continued employment. The fair value of nonvested shares of common stock is determined based on the closing trading price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. The weighted average grant date fair value of nonvested shares of common stock granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was $48.52.

The following table represents the nonvested stock activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2017:



	Number of shares		Weighted average grant date fair value
Nonvested shares outstanding as of December 31, 2016	574,711		$	31.61
Granted	151,010		$	48.52
Vested	(191,463	)	$	28.91
Forfeited	(3,793	)	$	39.30
Nonvested shares outstanding as of September 30, 2017	530,465		$	37.35

As of September 30, 2017, there was $14.9 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested shares of common stock granted. That cost is expected to be recognized over the weighted average period of 3.13 years. The total fair value of shares of common stock vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was $5.5 million. The Company records compensation expense related to nonvested stock awards at the grant date for shares of common stock that are awarded fully vested, and over the vesting term on a straight line basis for shares of common stock that vest over time. The Company recorded $4.5 million and $3.5 million of compensation expense related to nonvested stock grants in the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In 2006, the Company adopted the Employee Stock Purchase Plan whereby eligible employees may purchase the Company’s common stock at 95% of the market price on the last day of the calendar quarter. There were 250,000 shares of common stock initially reserved for the plan. In 2013, the Company adopted the Amended and Restated Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which reserved an additional 250,000 shares of common stock to the plan.

The table below details the shares of common stock issued during 2017:



	Number of shares	Per share price
Shares available as of December 31, 2016	189,611
Shares issued during the three months ended March 31, 2017	5,891	$	43.42
Shares issued during the three months ended June 30, 2017	4,152	$	51.21
Shares issued during the three months ended September 30, 2017..........................................................	4,775	$	64.49
Shares available as of September 30, 2017	174,793

Treasury Stock

In conjunction with the vesting of the nonvested shares of common stock, recipients incur personal income tax obligations. The Company allows the recipients to turn in shares of common stock to satisfy minimum tax obligations. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company redeemed 61,502 shares of common stock valued at $3.1 million, related to these tax obligations.