STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

All stock-based awards are subject to the terms of the CareTrust REIT, Inc. and CTR Partnership, L.P. Incentive Award Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan provides for the granting of stock-based compensation, including stock options, restricted stock, performance awards, restricted stock units and other incentive awards to officers, employees and directors in connection with their employment with or services provided to the Company.

Restricted Stock Awards — In connection with the separation of Ensign’s healthcare business and its real estate business into two separate and independently publicly traded companies (the “Spin-Off”), employees of Ensign who had unvested shares of restricted stock were given one share of CareTrust REIT unvested restricted stock totaling 207,580 shares at the Spin-Off. These restricted shares are subject to a time vesting provision only and the Company does not recognize any stock compensation expense associated with these awards. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, 10,960 shares vested or were forfeited. As of September 30, 2018, there were 4,020 unvested restricted stock awards outstanding that were issued in connection with the Spin-Off.

In February 2018, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors granted 141,060 shares of restricted stock to officers and employees. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $15.13 per share, based on the market price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and the shares vest in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date. Additionally, the Compensation Committee granted 120,460 performance stock awards to officers and employees. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $15.13 per share, based on the market price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and the shares may vest if the threshold performance criterion is met.

In May 2018, the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors granted 26,462 shares of restricted stock to members of the Board of Directors. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $16.44 per share, based on the market price of the Company's common stock on that date, and the shares vest in full on the earlier to occur of May 30, 2019 or when the Company holds its 2019 Annual Meeting.

The following table summarizes the stock-based compensation expense recognized (dollars in thousands):



	For the Three Months Ended September 30,				For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Stock-based compensation expense	$	988	$	656	$	2,816	$	1,792

As of September 30, 2018, there was $5.4 million of unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested awards and the weighted-average remaining vesting period of such awards was 2.2 years.