22. Stock-Based Compensation

On March 15, 2019, in connection with the Business Combination, the Company’s board of directors approved the adoption of the Target Hospitality Corp. 2019 Incentive Award Plan (the “Plan”), under which 4,000,000 of the Company’s shares of Common Stock were reserved for issuance pursuant to future grants of share awards. The expiration date of the Plan, on and after which date no awards may be granted, is March 15, 2029.

Restricted Stock Units

On May 21, 2019, the Compensation Committee granted time-based RSUs to certain of the Company’s executive officers, other employees, and directors. Each RSU represents a contingent right to receive, upon vesting, one share of the Company’s Common Stock or its cash equivalent, as determined by the Company. The number of RSUs granted to certain named executive officers and certain other employees totaled 212,621. These RSU awards granted vest in four equal installments on each of the first four anniversaries of the grant date, on May 21, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. On September 3, 2019, our recently appointed Chief Financial Officer received a grant of 81,434 RSUs and 48,860 RSUs, which vest on March 15, 2020 and on each of the first four anniversaries of the grant date, respectively. The number of RSUs granted to non-executive directors of the board amounted to 81,967 and were also granted on May 21, 2019. The RSU awards granted to non-executive directors of the board vest over one year on the anniversary of the date of grant or the date of the first annual meeting of the stockholders following the grant date, whichever is sooner.

Additionally, on May 21, 2019, the Compensation Committee approved the election by Mr. Archer, the CEO, pursuant to his employment agreement dated January 29, 2019, to receive his annual base salary for the period July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 in the form of 30,000 RSUs. These RSUs vested in six equal installments on the first of each month, beginning on July 1, 2019 through December 1, 2019.

During the years ended December 31, 2019, certain of the Company's employees surrendered RSUs owned by them to satisfy their statutory minimum federal and state tax obligations associated with the vesting of RSUs issued under the Plan.

The table below represents the changes in RSUs for the year ended December 31, 2019:


	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Share
Balance at December 31, 2018	—	$	—
Granted	454,882		9.49
Vested and released	(35,771)		10.83
Forfeited	(17,314)		10.83
Balance at December 31, 2019	401,797	$	9.31

Stock-based compensation expense for these RSUs recognized in selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $1.5 million, with an associated tax benefit of less than $0.4 million. At December 31, 2019, unrecognized compensation expense related to RSUs totaled $2.6 million and is expected to be recognized over a remaining term of approximately 2.81 years.

Stock Option Awards

On May 21, 2019, the Compensation Committee granted 482,792 time-based stock option awards to certain employees. On September 3, 2019 the Compensation Committee made an additional grant of 171,429 time-based stock options to our newly appointed Chief Financial Officer. Each option represents the right upon vesting, to buy one share of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, for $6.14 to $10.83 per share. The stock options vest in four equal installments on each of the first four anniversaries of the grant date and expire ten years from the grant date.

The following table presents the changes in stock options outstanding and related information for our employees during year ended December 31, 2019:


	Options		Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share	Weighted Average Contractual Life (Years)		Intrinsic Value
Outstanding Options at December 31, 2018	-	$	-	-	$	-
Granted	654,221		9.60	-		-
Vested and expired	(18,712)		10.83	-		-
Forfeited	(56,139)		10.83	-		-
Outstanding Options at December 31, 2019	579,370	$	9.44	9.48	$	-

18,712 stock options were exercisable and expired at December 31, 2019 in connection with our former Chief Financial Officer’s separation of service.

Stock-based compensation expense for these stock option awards recognized in selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $0.2 million with an associated tax benefit of less than $0.1 million. At December 31, 2019, unrecognized compensation expense related to stock options totaled $1.5 million and is expected to be recognized over a remaining term of approximately 3.4 years.

The fair value of each option award at the grant date was estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:


		Assumptions
Weighted average expected stock volatility	%	25.94
Expected dividend yield	%	0.00
Expected term (years)		6.25
Risk-free interest rate (range)	%	1.38 - 2.26
Exercise price (range)	$	6.14 - 10.83
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	2.92

The volatility assumption used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model is based on peer group volatility as the Company does not have a sufficient trading history as a stand-alone public company to calculate volatility. Additionally, due to an insufficient history with respect to stock option activity and post vesting cancellations, the expected term assumption is based on the simplified method permitted under SEC rules, whereby, the simple average of the vesting period for each tranche of award and its contractual term is aggregated to arrive at a weighted average expected term for the award. The risk-free interest rate used in the Black-Scholes model is based on the implied US Treasury bill yield curve at the date of grant with a remaining term equal to the Company’s expected term assumption. The Company has never declared or paid a dividend on its shares of common stock.

Stock-based payments are subject to service based vesting requirements and expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. 56,139 stock options were forfeited during year ended December 31, 2019 in connection with the separation of our former Chief Financial Officer.