Note 2 - Stock-based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

2.    STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Long Term Incentive Plan and Award of Deferred Stock

The Long Term Incentive Plan (the “LTI Plan”) authorizes the grant of Long Term Incentive Awards that provide an opportunity to Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”) and other Senior Executives to receive a payment in cash or shares of the Company’s common stock to the extent of achievement at the end of a period greater than one year (the “Performance Period”) as compared to Performance Goals established at the beginning of the Performance Period. Currently, there are no awards outstanding as of March 31, 2022. Beginning in 2020, and as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Company temporarily suspended the granting of performance awards under its LTI Plan, and instead granted deferred stock awards designed to retain NEOs and other Senior Executives in lieu of LTI Plan awards for 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

Board of Directors Stock Option, Deferred Stock Awards, and Restricted Stock Grants

The Company’s Stock Plan currently authorizes annual grants of restricted stock, deferred stock, stock options, or any combination of the three, to non-employee members of the Board of Directors at the time of the Company’s annual shareholders’ meeting as determined by the Board prior to each such meeting. Deferred stock awards represent the right to receive shares of the Company's common stock upon vesting. Options granted under the Plan generally expire 10 years after the grant date. Restricted stock and deferred stock grants to non-employee directors generally vest 100% one year after the date of the annual meeting at which they were granted, are subject to restrictions on resale for an additional year, and are subject to forfeiture if a board member terminates his or her board service prior to the shares vesting. The unvested deferred stock awards outstanding as of March 31, 2022 to our non-employee directors consisted of 10,710 shares with a weighted average fair value per share of $14.00. There were no unvested restricted stock or stock options outstanding at March 31, 2022.

Employee Deferred Stock Awards

The Company's Stock Plan permits its Compensation Committee to grant stock-based awards, including deferred stock awards, to key employees and non-employee directors. The Company has made deferred stock grants that vest over one to four years. 

During the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company granted employees deferred stock awards totaling 18,600 shares of common stock, with a vesting term of approximately four years and a fair value of $21.62 per share. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company granted employees deferred stock awards totaling 27,900 shares of common stock, with a vesting term of approximately three years and a fair value of $13.33 per share

Employee deferred stock transactions during the three months ended March 31, 2022 are summarized as follows: 

				Weighted
				Average
	Deferred			Fair Value
	Stock			Per Share
Non-Vested Balance, December 31, 2021		43,400		$	12.48
Granted		18,600			21.62
Vested		(20,800	)		21.32
Forfeited		—			—
Non-Vested Balance, March 31, 2022		41,200		$	16.62

Stock-based compensation expense related to the LTI Plan, deferred stock awards, and restricted stock awards is included on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and totaled approximately $105,000 and $103,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021. At March 31, 2022, there was approximately $637,000 of total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested employee and board of director deferred stock awards that is expected to be recognized over a period of approximately 4.0 years.