STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

During 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors and shareholders approved the 2015 Amended and Restated Stock Awards and Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) covering certain awards of stock-based compensation to key employees and directors of the Company. The Plan was amended in 2017 as the shareholders authorized a maximum aggregate number of shares of stock to be issued of 1,900,000, any or all of which may be issued through incentive stock options. The Company accounts for stock based employee compensation plans using the fair value-based method of accounting.  The Company recognized total stock based compensation expense of $497 thousand and $1.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively, and $370 thousand and $1.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively.

Stock Options

Options to purchase a total of 1,290,431 shares of Company stock have been granted as of September 30, 2017. Under the Plan, options are exercisable up to 10 years from the date of the grant and are fully vested 4 years after the date of grant.The fair value of stock options granted is estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

A summary of the activity in the stock option plan during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 is set forth below:

	Number of Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(In thousands)				(In years)	(In thousands)
Options outstanding, January 1, 2017	935		$	18.21	6.23	$	16,773
Options granted	50		36.22
Options exercised	(182	)	17.44
Options forfeited	(3	)	20.53
Options outstanding, September 30, 2017	800		$	19.56	5.88	$	13,885
Options vested and exercisable, September 30, 2017	508		$	17.01	4.70	$	10,093

Restricted Stock Awards

During the nine months ended 2017, the Company issued 28,106 shares of restricted stock. The forfeiture restrictions on restricted stock shares will lapse over a period of 4 years, and the shares are considered outstanding at the date of issuance. The Company accounts for restricted stock grants by recording the fair value of the grant on the award date as compensation expense over the vesting period.

A summary of the activity of the nonvested shares of restricted stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 is as follows:

	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
	(Shares in thousands)
Nonvested share awards outstanding, January 1, 2017	24		$	18.31
Share awards granted	28		36.17
Share awards vested	(10	)	18.19
Unvested share awards forfeited	—		—
Nonvested share awards outstanding, September 30, 2017	42		$	30.24