Note 13 - Equity

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2025

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

Note 13—Equity 

Dividend Payments

The following table summarizes the quarterly dividends declared and paid by the Company on its Class A and Class B common stock during the six months ended June 30, 2025 (in thousands, except per share amounts):

	Dividend		Aggregate
Declaration Date	Per Share		Dividend Amount		Record Date	Payment Date
February 5, 2025	$	0.0750	$	2,026	February 18, 2025	February 26, 2025
May 5, 2025	$	0.0750	$	2,010	May 19, 2025	May 30, 2025

On July 31, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0750 per share on its Class A common stock and Class B common stock for the first quarter of 2025. The dividend will be paid on or about August 19, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 11, 2025.

Stock Repurchases and Redemption; Treasury Shares

On March 11, 2013, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a program for the repurchase of up to an aggregate of 7.0 million shares of the Company’s Class B common stock. In the three months ended June 30, 2025, the Company acquired 158,874 Class B common stock under the stock purchase program for an aggregate amount of $2.7 million. In the six months ended June 30, 2025, the Company acquired 286,137 Class B common stock under the stock purchase program for an aggregate amount of $4.6 million. In the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Company acquired 118,758 Class B common stock under the stock purchase program for an aggregate amount of $1.8 million. In the six months ended June 30, 2024, the Company acquired 368,758 Class B common stock under the stock purchase program for an aggregate amount of $5.9 million. At  June 30, 2025, 3.7 million shares of Class B common stock remained available for repurchase under the stock repurchase program.

As of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, there were 4.2 million and 3.8 million outstanding shares of Class B common stock held in the Company's treasury, respectively, with a cost basis of $42.6 million and $37.5 million, respectively, at a weighted average cost per share of $10.27 and $9.79, respectively.

Exercise of Stock Options

There were no exercises of options to purchase any of the Company's common stock in the three months ended June 30, 2025.

In February 2024, Howard S. Jonas exercised options to purchase 126,176 shares of Class B common stock through a cashless exercise and the Company issued 49,632 Class B common stock to Howard S. Jonas with the remaining 76,544 Class B common stock used for payment of the exercise price or retained by the Company to satisfy withholding tax obligations in connection to the exercise of the options.

At June 30, 2025, there were no outstanding options to purchase the Company's common stock.

Purchase of Equity of Subsidiary

In  February 2024, the Company purchased from a certain investor a 0.5% equity interest in Genie Energy International Corporation ("GEIC"), which holds the Company's interest in its operating subsidiaries for $1.2 million. Following this transaction, GEIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

Stock-Based Compensation 

On March 8, 2021, the Board of Directors adopted the Company's 2021 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the "2021 Plan"), subject to the approval of the Company's stockholders. In May 2021, the 2021 Plan became effective and replaced the Company's 2011 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. The 2021 Plan provides incentives to executives, employees, directors and consultants of the Company. Incentives available under the 2021 Plan provide for grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights, limited stock appreciation rights, deferred stock units, and restricted stock. The Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors. The maximum number of shares initially reserved for the grant of awards under the 2021 Plan is 1.0 million shares of Class B Common Stock. On May 10, 2023, the Company's stockholders approved an amendment to the 2021 Plan that, among other things, increased the number of shares of the Company’s Class B common stock available for the grant of awards thereunder by 0.5 million shares of Class B Common Stock.

In February 2022, the Company granted certain employees and members of its Board of Directors an aggregate of 290,000 deferred stock units which were eligible to vest in two tranches contingent upon the achievement of a specified thirty-day average closing price of the Company's Class B common stock within a specified period of time (the "2022 market conditions") and the satisfaction of service-based vesting conditions. Each deferred stock unit entitled the recipient to receive, upon vesting, up to two shares of Class B common stock of the Company depending on market conditions. The Company used a Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the grant-date fair value of the awards. Assumptions and estimates utilized in the model include the risk-free interest rate, dividend yield, expected stock volatility based on a combination of the Company’s historical stock volatility. In the second quarter of 2022, the 2022 market conditions were partially achieved and the Company issued 290,000 shares of its restricted Class B common stock. In February 2023, the remaining portion of the 2022 market conditions was achieved and the Company issued an additional 290,000 restricted shares of its Class B common stock in May 2023. The restricted shares issued are subject to service-based vesting conditions as described above.

As of June 30, 2025, there was $4.7 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation costs related to outstanding and unvested equity-based grants. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.1 years.