Stock-Based Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

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 the healthcare business and real estate business of Ensign into two separate and independent publicly traded companies (the “Spin-Off”) on June 1, 2014, 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 were subject to a time vesting provision only and the Company did not recognize any stock compensation expense associated with these awards. During the year ended December 31, 2020, 1,760 shares were forfeited. At September 30, 2021, there were no unvested restricted stock awards outstanding.

In January 2021 and February 2021, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”) granted 140,514 and 99,189 shares of restricted stock, respectively, to officers and employees. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $22.48 and $22.18 per share, respectively, based on the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and the shares vest in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

In January 2021, the Compensation Committee granted 108,414 performance stock awards to officers. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $22.48 per share, based on the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on that date. Performance stock awards are subject to both time and performance based conditions and vest over a one-to three-year period. The amount of such performance awards that will ultimately vest is dependent on the Company’s Normalized Funds from Operations per share, as defined by the Compensation Committee, meeting or exceeding a specified per share amount for the applicable vesting period.

Additionally, in February 2021, the Compensation Committee granted 99,189 performance stock awards to officers. Each share had an estimated fair market value on the date of grant of $27.98 per share. Performance stock awards are subject to both time and performance based conditions and cliff vest after a three-year period. The amount of such performance awards that will ultimately vest is dependent on the Company’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) performance relative to a custom TSR peer group consisting of 16 other publicly traded healthcare REITs on the date of grant and will range from 0% to 200% of the TSR awards initially granted. Compensation expense for awards with performance-based vesting conditions is recognized based upon the grant date fair value per share multiplied by the estimated number of performance stock awards to be earned after considering the Company’s expectation of future performance and is recognized provided that the requisite service is rendered, regardless of when, if ever, the market condition is satisfied. Forfeitures of stock-based awards are recognized as they occur.

The fair value of the TSR-based performance stock awards is estimated on the date of the grant using a Monte Carlo valuation model. The risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the grant date for the expected performance period. Expected volatility is based on historical volatility for the most recent 2.84 year period ending on the grant date for the Company and the selected TSR peer group, and is calculated on a daily basis. The following are the key assumptions used in this valuation:



Risk-free interest rate	0.27	%
Expected stock price volatility	52.93	%
Expected service period	2.84 years
Expected dividend yield (assuming full reinvestment)	—	%

In April 2021, the Compensation Committee granted 20,266 shares of restricted stock to non-employee members of the Board of Directors. Each share had a fair market value on the date of grant of $24.18 per share, based on the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on that date, and the shares vest in full on the earlier to occur of April 30, 2022 or the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

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


	For the Three Months Ended September 30,				For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Stock-based compensation expense	$	1,802	$	972	$	5,197	$	2,819

As of September 30, 2021, there was $11.3 million of unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested awards and the weighted-average remaining vesting period of such awards was 2.1 years.